Timebomb
by MrJamesileee
Summary: Set immediately after the series finale. No one has spoken a word about Frankie walking out of Gail's bedroom the morning after the wedding and it's driving Chloe crazy. What does this mean for Gail and Frankie? Maybe nothing, but Chloe is determined to find out. Perhaps she's a little too interested. Rated T but will be M in future chapters. Twists and turns will arise.
1. Chapter 1

_I haven't written or posted anything in years but a rewatch of Rookie Blue inspired me. The shows been off for like two years but I'm writing about it anyway. I hope there are still folks out there interested in reading it. Any comments or criticisms are greatly appreciated. This is just a short first chapter. I'm not sure how long it will end up. I have the whole story blueprinted but not written yet. I hope it's enjoyable._

Timebomb/Two Weeks

"He was shot in the goddamn _head_ , Anderson! What kind of homicide detective doesn't know a gunshot wound to the head?!" Gail shouted, literally throwing her hands up in frustration.

"I know he was shot in the head, you idiot. Get your own head out of your ass and start asking the right questions: _Why_ was he shot in the head?" Frankie retorted with much less passion than Gail had.

"Because he was part of the RedBones. It was an execution. We already know all this so why are you making it more difficult than it is?" Gail asked, flopping into her chair as she stared at the evidence board.

Chloe was amused. She even had a slight smile on her face as she watched the exchange, moving her head back and forth from one woman to the other as though she was watching a tennis match. This had been going on for a solid fifteen minutes, not one real question about the case being answered. She sat, chin in hand, and enjoyed the show.

"You are liking this _way_ too much," Dov whispered, seeing the look on his girlfriend's face.

"It's just so interesting, you know? Psychology. Or is it more sociology?" she asked herself. "They slept together two days ago, Dov. _Two days!_ And now here we are, completely back to 'normal,'" she said with finger quotes.

"Okay but you don't actually _know_ that they slept together," Dov reasoned.

"What do you suppose they were doing in there, in their underwear? Frankie just happened to take off her pants and change into Gail's shirt while they were braiding each other's hair?" Chloe asked with a giggle at the image she created for herself.

Dov rolled his eyes and turned back to the still-arguing women. He didn't know if they had slept together or not; he wasn't there when Frankie allegedly strolled out of Gail's bedroom half naked. He was actually glad he wasn't there. Unlike Chloe, he was happier to stay out of it.

"Jesus Christ, Muppet! Are you back there to pass notes or help us solve a case?" Frankie asked angrily (and loudly), pulling Chloe out of her daze and wiping the small smile off of her face completely.

"Sorry, Crankypants. It just seemed like you and Gail had it all under control," Chloe said sarcastically, putting on her biggest, sweetest smile.

"You are not getting paid to sit back there and flirt with your boyfriend. How about you come up here and actually do some goddamn work?" Frankie said, turning back to the board dismissively.

Chloe rolled her eyes apologetically but obviously at Dov, patted him on the cheek and made her way to the front of the room with Frankie and Gail. She scraped her chair across the floor intentionally and sat down, staring into Frankie's eyes defiantly. She might as well have just said, 'Are you happy now?' aloud.

"I don't really appreciate the attitude, Price," Frankie spat at her, staring right back.

"You may out-rank me but you _do_ realise that you're not my boss, right?" Chloe spat right back. She heard Gail chuckle to her right but made a point not to look away from Frankie.

Frankie's expression visibly blanched. "Geez, Muppet. When did you get so snarky?" she asked, but all the bite was suddenly out of her tone.

"I've always been this snarky," Chloe told her, attitude diminished from seeing the almost-hurt in Frankie's eyes. "You've just always been too busy being rude to me to notice."

xxx

"Chris, you should've heard them!"

"Not this again..." Dov sighed, lying his forehead on the lunch table.

"What?" Chris asked, confused, as he sat down with them.

"Gail and Frankie-"

"Shh!" Chris's eyes widened in panic, looking around the room nervously. "They might be able to hear you!" he whispered.

"They can't hear me, Chris. I'm not blind. If I could see either of them I wouldn't be talking about- no, actually I probably _would_ be talking about them, just not as loudly."

"Seriously, babe. When are you gonna let this go?" Dov asked, barely picking up his head in order to look pleadingly into Chloe's eyes.

"It's not like that. Actually it's the opposite. How long are _we_ going to act like we didn't see Frankie in the kitchen, right there in front of us?"

" _I_ didn't see her," Dov piped up quickly.

"You know what I mean. We're all just going about our days acting like we have some giant secret that isn't even a secret. It doesn't make any sense unless they actually like each other. If all it was was sex _both_ of them would be bragging about it."

Chloe's eyes widened suddenly, causing both men to look around the room in fear of seeing one of the females in question approaching.

"I got it!" Chloe practically yelled excitedly. "Maybe Frankie never told Gail that Chris and I saw her! Maybe that's why Gail is acting so completely normal like it never happened," she said as though she had just figured out one of the mysteries of the universe.

"It's possible," Chris shrugged. He, too, was curious about the situation between the two girls. He just didn't get wrapped up in things the same way overzealous Chloe did.

"But Frankie got _two_ cups of coffee the other morning. One for her and one for Gail. They have to actually care about each other at least a little, right? Where did Gail think the coffee came from? She has to know we saw her."

Chloe was just arguing with herself at this point.

"Listen, I think we should just let it go, let them do what they do and keep it to ourselves. It'll be safer for everyone," Chris said reasonably.

"Ha," Chloe rolled her eyes and chuckled. "You act like they would maim us or something if we actually brought it up," she said, taking a bite of her apple and shaking her head.

Dov furrowed his brow. "Um, you have _met_ Gail and Frankie, right?"

" _Excuse_ me?" Gail said, head cocked to the side, suddenly right behind them with her lunch in her hand and a very pissed off look in her eyes.

"Um-" Chris started, trying to keep his expression as flat as possible.

"Chloewasjustsurprisedbyyoutwoarguingoverthecasetoday," Dov spat out, shocking himself with his own quick save.

"Oh," Gail said, only momentarily skeptical. "Yeah, Chloe. Have you met us?" she chuckled, sitting down to join them.

"It just seemed...worse than usual today," Chloe chose her words carefully, deciding that if she played her cards right she might be able to cause Gail to slip some information even without saying it outright. "I know you guys hate each other but today was...intense."

"Really? I hadn't noticed," Gail lied, badly. "She's a bitch," she shrugged. "I'm a bitch," she added. "Just two bitches, being...bitches."

"I guess you're right," Chloe nodded, deciding to let it go, for now.

" _You_ cracked me up today though," Gail said excitedly. "You really put her in her place, Price! 'You do realise you're not my boss, right?'" she mimicked Chloe. "That was awesome."

"I know that's not really like me. I just get tired of her treating me like crap all the time," Chloe admitted. "She thinks she's better than me. She's above me, I get it. But superiors should be able to be superiors without being so..."

"Superior?" Chris asked, smirking.

"Yes! You know what I mean..." Chloe sighed.

"Naw, you're totally right," Gail nodded, eating her cheese puffs audibly. "Like Oliver, and Sam. They're above us. Always have been. But that doesn't mean they're dicks to us all the time."

"It's just a difference of personality. Oliver and Sam are Oliver and Sam. Frankie would treat everyone like crap even if she wasn't a higher rank," Dov observed.

"I just wonder what makes people like that, ya know?" Chloe mused. "Like did she have a really crappy life or was she just born that way?"

"Some people would ask the same thing about me," Gail noted.

"You're right. But you're not actually a terrible person. You're just really good at pretended that you're a terrible person in order to keep people out. Keep your walls up," Chloe told her without missing a beat.

Gail stared at Chloe for a solid minute, an angry, defensive look in her eye. For a moment Chloe wondered how badly she'd messed up. Gail's defense mechanisms were obvious to Chloe. She just didn't have the filter to not say them aloud like everyone else did.

After a moment of contemplating whether to throw Chloe across the table or not, Gail closed her eyes and considered what the doe-eyed girl had said. It wasn't a revelation: Gail knew that to be true about herself. It was the fact that others (Chloe) could see it too that made her angry. She decided not to confirm nor deny, or throw the red head across the table.

"So maybe Frankie's not actually a terrible person either," Gail shrugged, turning back to her cheese puffs. "Maybe she's just trying to keep people out too."

Chloe looked quickly to Chris and Dov, saying 'Ha, I was right' without having to say a word.

"Well if that's the case, it's working," Chris said.


	2. Chapter 2

_Here's chapter two. Thanks to those of you who have already read and reviewed. This story is meant to be unpredictable so I apologise for anyone wondering if it's going to be a Golly story or not. Hint: Holly will appear :) Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think. PS: swearing in this chapter. I hope to have chapter three up tomorrow. Thanks._

Timebomb Chapter 2

The following week Gail had been seeming extra cheery, even waiting a moment or two before pushing Chloe away from one of the girl's all-too-freely given (and unwelcome) hugs. Chloe was of course convinced that it had something to do with Gail's new 'relationship', though Dov and Chris were quick to point out that Frankie hadn't been around Gail at all. The guys were still trying to get Chloe to let the whole thing go. After a week it wasn't quite as pressing on Chloe's mind but it still came up in conversation more often than Dov or Chris would like.

It was Friday and despite the impending weekend, the shift had gone well. They saved a couple lives and got a few bad guys off of the streets. To Fifteen, it was a win.

"So guys, I know it's impromptu but this weekend is Oliver and Celery's anniversary. I was thinking about throwing them a little party at the Penny," Gail said casually, sipping a beer with Chloe in the kitchen while Dov and Chris played Call of Duty in the living room.

All three of them instantly looked at her skeptically. Gail in a decent mood? Gail planning a party for one of her friends? On her own? It was only her first beer so they couldn't blame the alcohol.

"What?!" Gail asked, seeing the shocked looks of her friends. "I can be nice!"

Chloe just raised an eyebrow in response.

"When I want to..." she tacked on.

"Naw, Gail that sounds like a great idea," Chris nodded, looking back to his game.

"Yeah, let us know what we can do to help," Dov added.

Gail looked to Chloe, who still just had one eyebrow raised and a smirk on her face.

"Okay, Muppet, you're uninvited," Gail shot.

"Hey! You don't get to call me Muppet! Only Frankie calls me that and that's just because she hates me," Chloe argued.

"I hate you, too," Gail said flatly.

"Aww, no you don't, Sweetie!" Chloe grinned, leaning over and wrapping her arms around Gail lovingly.

"Bleh!" Gail groaned, pushing Chloe away with a disgusted look on her face. "I hate you even more when you do _that_."

"I know," Chloe nodded happily.

"So when's this party?" Dov asked, looking away from the screen for a split second.

"Tomorrow night, I guess," Gail shrugged. "Oliver's taking Celery to some sort of hippy thing on Sunday so I figure they might as well be hung over."

"That sounds...reasonable?" Chris furrowed his brow.

"Okay, I haven't really put much thought into this whole party thing, alright? I just thought it would be a nice idea," Gail rolled her eyes.

"It's a great idea," Dov encouraged.

"So basically we're all going to the Penny and we may or may not actually buy their drinks?" Chloe asked.

"Shut up! It's a party!" Gail huffed.

"Hey, maybe you should invite Frankie to the party," Chloe threw out with a wide grin upon her face.

Gail's head whipped around so fast that she missed Dov and Chris doing the same. The look in her eyes was shock (that Chloe would even suggest it) and anger (that Chloe would bring this up after a week). To Chloe, it was a definite tell. Gail _did_ know that they saw Frankie that morning.

"Why the hell would I do _that_ , Muppet?" Gail spat.

"Oh, ya know..." Chloe was still all smiles. Gail expected the worst. "Since we talked about how she might not actually be a bad person and all. Maybe she only has those walls up because we're pretty tight knit, you know? Maybe she'd _open up_ a little more if we actually seemed like we want her around."

Chloe chuckled out loud at her own semantics. For a moment she wondered if she was about to get hit in the skull with Gail's beer bottle. But the look on Gail's face would've made even _that_ worth it.

"We _don't_ want her around, Chloe. I'm not sure how you missed that part," Gail told her.

"We don't?" Chloe bit her lip to keep her smug grin from growing too large.

"No, Chloe! We don't!"

"Oh. Okay," Chloe shrugged. "I just wasn't sure," she laughed.

"I actually hate you."

xxx

"What time should we be there tonight?" Andy asked Gail as they changed in the locker room at end of shift the next day. It had not been easy like yesterday and they were all looking forward to letting loose.

"I told Oliver like nine," Gail shrugged. "I got some stupid balloons and shit though so I'm heading over around eight."

"Ooh, balloons?" Chloe piped up, standing there in her bra and smiling. "I'll come with you early to help."

"That would just be _fantastic_ , Chloe," Gail said sarcastically, though she honestly appreciated the offer.

Chloe smiled. Andy shook her head at the two.

"Nine it is," Andy laughed.

"Who all did you invite?" Chloe asked, sitting on the bench and drying her hair.

"Only people Oliver would want to be around."

"Oliver loves everybody," Chloe said.

"Okay, so only people that _I_ would want to be around," Gail admitted.

"Not a lot of people, huh?" Andy smirked.

"Nope."

As they discussed plans and times and the very few people that were invited, Frankie strolled into the locker room like she owned the place. Much like she strolled out of Gail's bedroom that morning, Chloe thought. As a detective who got to wear her 'pretty clothes' to work, Frankie didn't often have much reason to be in the locker room at Fifteen. Gail, Andy and Chloe all looked at her as such when she walked up to them casually.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" Gail asked without pretense.

"I had to pee," Frankie shrugged, lacking the normal bitchy bite that she wore well.

"You know there are restrooms for that," Gail scoffed.

"They were full."

"You just wanted to come in here to see a bunch of half-naked chicks, didn't you, homo?" Gail chuckled. Both Andy and Chloe looked at her in shock.

"Was that a gay joke?" Frankie almost chuckled but her expression remained sad and tired. "From a fellow gay? Real cool, Peck," she rolled her eyes, defeated, and began to walk away.

Andy smacked Gail's arm, hard, once Frankie's back was turned.

" _What the hell?_ " she mouthed inaudibly.

Chloe was looking at Gail with disappointment in her eyes. Maybe she wasn't a very good person after all.

Gail huffed out loud and rolled her eyes.

"Anderson, wait," Gail said, loudly enough to stop Frankie but with reluctance in her voice.

Frankie turned around slowly, not ready for whatever new insult Gail was ready to throw at her. Not today.

"Rough day?" Gail attempted sincerity and found she didn't have to try as hard as she expected.

"What the hell do you care, Peck?" Frankie said, looking at the ground.

Gail swallowed hard. This chick really didn't make it easy to be nice to her.

"I, um, we're throwing a party at the Penny tonight for Oliver and Celery's anniversary. You should come. Drink it off," Gail shrugged nonchalantly.

Chloe smiled. Andy wondered why.

"Feeling sorry for me now, Peck?" Frankie scoffed. "Or just feeling guilty 'cause you're such a bitch all the time?"

Gail's blood pressure rose instantly. If they weren't in the locker room Frankie would be on her ass right now.

"Me?! Seriously? I'm trying to fucking be nice to you and you're gonna call me a bitch?" Gail couldn't control the rise of her voice. Chloe stood, unsure of what she may have to jump into.

"Being 'nice' to me?" Frankie took a step forward. "It takes a lot of goddamn nerve to make a gay joke one minute and invite me to a party the next. Do you even know what being nice is? You probably don't. Your whole family is so fucked up you probably never had a chance to see it in action."

"Listen, bitch-" Gail stepped forward only to receive a hand being held up to her face. Andy and Chloe were both poised and ready to stop a fight.

"No. You listen," Frankie said, hatred emanating from her, "You can dish it out but you can't take it. You think it's okay to treat everyone else like shit and then call people out for doing the exact same thing you do with every goddamn breath. I'm done taking it."

Before Gail could respond, Frankie was back out the door.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Gail smacked her locker, hard, the metal clang echoing through the locker room.

"Gail-" Andy started.

"No!" Gail stopped her attempt at comfort in it's tracks. "No. She's not worth it." She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and exhaled. "She's not worth it. I have a goddamn party to plan." She threw her shirt on quickly, grabbed her things and bolted.

Andy and Chloe looked at each other, wide-eyed. Frankie had said some hurtful things. But Chloe knew that the most hurtful thing to Gail was that Frankie was right.

xxx

Gail arrived at the Penny at 7:48PM. By 8:03PM she had downed two shots of Jack and was halfway through a beer. But there were seven balloons blown up. Chloe walked into the nearly empty bar to find Gail standing on a chair in an attempt to hang a black (imagine that) streamer.

"How's it going, Monkey?" Chloe smiled up at her, picking up the opposite end of the streamer from the floor.

"Where do you come up with these ridiculous nicknames? You really are a five year old."

"You're up on a chair, practically trying to climb the ceiling. You're a monkey," Chloe reasoned.

Gail rolled her eyes even though she almost saw the logic.

"Is that all the balloons you got?" Chloe asked, looking around to see the few balloons lying in various areas of the floor.

"No. That's all the balloons I finished. I thought you were balloon patrol?" Gail smirked.

"I'm all over it," Chloe clapped her hands excitedly and walked away on a mission. A moment later she returned. "Where are the balloons?"

Gail laughed sincerely and pointed to the bar, where the bag of uninflated balloons sat next to her half-drank beer. Chloe scampered off.

The chair Gail was standing on scraped across the floor loudly as she jumped off of it, quickly and without grace. Chloe walked over with a half inflated balloon sticking out of her mouth.

"Herve you bern drinkin aready?" Chloe asked around the balloon.

"Herve you?" Gail mocked.

Chloe rolled her eyes and tied off the balloon. "I'll take that as a yes."

"Who all did you tell?" Gail asked a second later, suddenly incredibly serious.

"Tell what?" Chloe asked, though she was pretty sure she knew the answer.

Gail simply cocked her head to the side and looked at Chloe knowingly.

Chloe sighed. She was surprised that Gail had brought it up at all, let alone completely out of nowhere. It was impossible to predict how this conversation would go. It was always impossible to predict Gail.

"No one. Well, Dov. But that's it, I swear," Chloe held her hand up to nothing.

"Uggghhhh!" Gail groaned loudly, grabbing her half beer and sitting down on the floor with Chloe.

"It doesn't have to be a big deal, Gail," Chloe told her, though she herself had been making a big deal out of it for a week. "You know she just walked right out into the kitchen like she lived there, right? It's not like we found out in some weird, sneaky way."

"I know," Gail said quietly. "When she came back into the room I thought I was going to puke." Upon Chloe's shocked look she corrected herself. "Not because of her! Because her coming back into the room meant that she had to have _left_ the room. I assumed at least one of you was awake."

"Chris was out there too," Chloe shot out quickly. She didn't want Gail to have any more surprises.

Gail gulped the rest of her beer.

The door to the Penny opened and Andy, Sam, Frank and Noelle walked in, smiling at the girls sitting in the middle of the bar floor. Gail looked to Chloe and whispered "zip it" even though she trusted Chloe enough to know that it went without saying. Chloe just smiled and blew up another balloon.

xx


	3. Chapter 3

_Hello again. This is just a short third chapter. This is kind of the end of the exposition so hopefully we'll be able to move forward a little more freely from here on out. Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed. I hope you enjoy it no matter which ship (or ships) you are hoping for. I'm out of practice and this story is helping me get back to it. Thanks again. Let me know what you think._

The Penny was hopping, though not many of the patrons were there for the 'party.' Gail wasn't kidding when she said she hadn't invited many people. Oliver and Celery acted surprised (even though they certainly weren't) and were grateful for Gail's thoughtfulness. Everyone was talking amongst themselves, drinking and shooting darts. It would have been considered a regular night at the Penny except there was a more peaceful atmosphere surrounding everyone.

"AH HA! Suck, that, suckers!" Gail shouted with joy as she threw a dart that hit the very center of the bullseye.

"That should have been physically impossible," Dov said to Oliver, his partner for the game.

"Excuse me? Rude," Gail scoffed.

"No, Gail, I'm just saying, how much have you had to drink?" Dov asked, still shocked by her darts skills.

"A: not that much. B: I get better after I drink," she answered.

"Thank God," Chloe said.

"Would you like me to dump you as my partner, Chloe? I can stick you with shitty Dov next round," Gail threatened with a smirk.

"No, I'll take drunk Gail over shitty Dov any day," Chloe said honestly.

"Hey!" Dov put a hand to his heart like he was deeply hurt and they laughed.

"She's not wrong, man..." Oliver added for good measure.

The door to the Penny opened and Chloe caught a flash of light reddish hair out of the corner of her eye. To say she was surprised to see Frankie enter the bar would have been an understatement. Since Dov and Oliver were now arguing among themselves about Dov's lack of skill Chloe took the opportunity to smack Gail (too hard) to get her attention.

"Ow! What?!" Gail asked, smacking Chloe back before she even knew the reason. Any excuse to smack Chloe...

"Look..." Chloe said in an attempted whisper. She had a bit to drink already as well but subtlety had never been her strong suit sober either.

"Oh," Gail shrugged half-heartedly when she saw that Chloe was pointing to Frankie. She acted nonchalant poorly.

"I can't believe she showed up after your fight today," Chloe said, looking around to assure that no one in the room would know what she and Gail were talking about.

"Well..." Gail started before rolling her eyes at herself and finishing her beer. "Well I may have...apologized to her..." she said as though it was the most embarrassing thing in the world to admit.

"Oh. Wow." Chloe didn't even try to keep the shocked expression from her face. "When?"

"I texted her. After shift."

"You felt guilty!" Chloe said in awe, poking her in the chest with one finger.

"Do you wanna keep that finger?!" Gail asked, grabbing onto the digit and holding it a bit too roughly.

"Yes, please," Chloe said, pulling her hand back. "So, she accepted your apology?"

"I mean, I guess so. She never responded. And yet here she is," Gail rolled her eyes, almost wishing the girl _hadn't_ shown up.

"That's good, Gail! You apologized and she's here. You're growing as a person," Chloe nodded happily.

"I didn't apologize because I wanted her to show up," Gail argued honestly.

"No, you apologized because you felt guilty," Chloe pointed out again, only to get the finger from Gail. "You know what that means?"

" _That I'm growing as a person_ ," she mocked Chloe's cheery tone.

"Well I was gonna say tequila shots, but yeah, that too."

Chloe approached the bar to find Frankie and Tracy talking about something that sounded suspiciously work related. They saw her approaching and Chloe considered how to handle the situation. She and Tracy had always gotten along well. She and Frankie, not so much.

"Hi ladies," Chloe said casually, stepping up to the bar on the side of Frankie and waiting to order her shots. "How are you?"

"Great party, Chloe. It was a nice idea for Oliver and Celery," Tracy said kindly, sipping her drink.

"It was all Gail's idea, actually. I just blew up some balloons," Chloe shrugged.

"Well that explains a lot," Frankie piped up suddenly. Both Tracy and Chloe looked at her, confused. "It was a dumb joke, Muppet. Lack of oxygen to the brain, and whatnot. A joke about you being dumb," she clarified.

"Aww, you're joke was so dumb it went right over our heads," Chloe grinned, reaching out and literally patting Frankie on the head like a child.

Frankie swatted Chloe's hand away but burst out laughing anyway, causing Tracy to laugh as well.

"It was a pretty bad joke," Frankie admitted, still laughing.

"We're doing tequila shots. You two are joining us," Chloe decided, ordering four shots from the bartender.

"I don't know about tequila..." Frankie said apprehensively.

"Are you scared, _Detective_?" Chloe challenged, picking up a shot and wafting it under Frankie's nose.

"I am not _scared_ of anything, Muppet," Frankie narrowed her eyes at the girl.

"That's what I thought," Chloe grinned, handing a shot to each of them and picking up the remaining two. "Let's roll, ladies. I don't have all night," she said loudly as she made her way back across the bar to Gail.

Tracy and Frankie looked at each other and laughed but followed her nonetheless.

"I brought company," Chloe sang as she reached Gail and the long-forgotten darts game.

"Why?" Gail asked before she even saw who said company was.

A moment later Tracy and Frankie walked up, each with their own shot of tequila in hand. Gail started to have heart palpitations before she reasoned with herself that she was Gail Peck and Gail Peck didn't get awkward or worry about strange social situations. If Frankie didn't want to be there then she could piss off.

"Okay, okay, what are we toasting to?" Chloe asked, even bobbing up and down excitedly.

"Um, Oliver and Celery?" Tracy suggested as though that should have been obvious.

"Shouldn't we like toast to them if they're in on the toast?" Gail scrunched up her face and laughed.

"Right? I honestly haven't even seen either of them since I got here," Frankie added.

"Okay, new toast..." Tracy stood corrected.

Chloe looked to Gail. "How about, 'to doing the right thing'?" she suggested.

"That is the absolute most Muppet thing to toast to," Frankie chuckled.

But they toasted to it anyway.

xxx

The sun was shining. The birds were chirping. Chloe was only slightly hung over. It was a good day. Dov was still fast asleep (having had far more to drink the previous night) so Chloe pulled on a sweatshirt and put on a pot of coffee. She knew the others would appreciate it once they finally woke up.

She had only been sipping her coffee and watching the Today Show for about ten minutes when Gail practically crawled out of her bedroom, grunting at Chloe and going to get coffee.

"Good morning to you too, Sunshine," Chloe said sleepily.

"Why are you in your underwear on my couch?" Gail rasped, squinting as she held the cup of hot, black coffee under her nose.

"They're boxers," she told her.

Gail just blinked at her.

"Did you have fun last night?" Chloe asked sincerely, lying her head on the back of the couch so she could see Gail in the kitchen.

"Up until those tequila shots settled, yeah," Gail admitted. "That was a terrible idea."

"Hey, only _one_ of those tequila shots was my idea. You just kind of ran with it," she laughed.

Gail groaned.

"I think Oliver and Celery really appreciated it. It was a nice idea, Gail," Chloe told her, earning a genuine smile in response.

A moment later Gail's genuine smile faltered when her bedroom door opened again and Frankie emerged, looking even more worse for wear than she did. Chloe's look of shock only lasted a moment before she saw the almost sad look on Gail's face and blinked it away.

Frankie was clad in a T-shirt and sweatpants, both Chloe knew to be Gail's. Her hair was pulled up in a messy ponytail and her eyes were red and puffy. The girl walked into the kitchen like she owned the place, much like she had last time, and poured herself a cup of coffee. She half-nodded at Gail before walking straight into the living room and plopping down onto the couch next to Chloe, who hadn't said a word and didn't know how to react to any of it.

"What are we watching, Muppet?"


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4. I know the updates have been coming like crazy. This thing is kind of writing itself. To anyone who thinks that I am painting Gail in a negative light, I apologize. Gail Peck is one of my favourite characters of all time. Her negativity and mean-spirit are only because of where I see Gail mentally during the setting of this story. I promise she'll redeem herself. Thanks for the support and I hope you bear with me. Let me know what you think. Thanks for the reads._

It happened more often after that. Usually after a drunken night at the Penny, sometimes after a particularly rough shift, Frankie would emerge from Gail's bedroom the next morning without acknowledging that anything was out of the ordinary. Once a week, sometimes twice, Chloe and the guys would find themselves in the company of Frankie in the morning. Most days she and Gail had little or no interaction, though Frankie would talk to the roommates like she was one of their own.

Gail remained quiet most mornings. She would distance herself in the kitchen or take a shower. Sometimes she would even retreat back to her bedroom after Frankie was out with the others. She never spoke a word about it to any of them and they certainly knew not to bring it up to her. It was an uncomfortable game that they all silently played, waiting for the inevitable (and certainly messy) end.

"Do you know what you're working on today?" Chris asked one morning, pouring some juice and looking to Frankie. He wasn't asking in order to make small talk; he was genuinely interested in the homicide department.

"Probably the same old gang bang crap, and not in a fun way," Frankie answered, chuckling at her own joke. "You know, like 'gang bang'?" she asked, humping motion and all.

"We know," Chloe told her flatly.

Frankie rolled her eyes. "Honestly, I wish the gangs would move out of the city just because I'm so tired of the cases. A good, old fashioned murder would be nice once in a while."

All three roommates (Chloe might as well have been a roommate by that point) looked at her skeptically.

"This detective in training stuff is intimidating," Dov admitted, prompted by Frankie's gang talk. "How do you deal with the responsibility?" he asked, wrapping his arm casually around Chloe on the couch.

"It's really not that different," Frankie told him, sipping her coffee as she crossed her legs underneath herself on the arm chair. "We're all responsible for keeping people safe, right? The beat cops have it kind of nice because they actually get to _protect_ people. In homicide you just gotta catch the people who already got away with something. It's too late to protect people in my line."

Chloe was surprised by Frankie's openness. She thought back to last month when they talked about Frankie keeping her walls up. Now that they spent time with her and seemed like they wanted her around she had lightened up nicely. In fact everyone seemed like they wanted Frankie around but Gail.

"You still protect people," Chloe spoke up, ever the cheerleader. "Even if it's too late for the victims, you're protecting whoever these killers would go after next."

"That's a nice thought, Muppet," Frankie said sincerely. "Thanks," she smiled.

"She's right. We all work together no matter what department we're in," Chris nodded. "Speaking of which, I gotta get ready for work. Do you know if Gail needs a ride?" he asked, not thinking it strange in the least.

"I, uh, I don't know," Frankie answered uncomfortably. It was the first time any of them had even mentioned Gail's name to her in the safety of the apartment, despite the fact that they all knew that the woman was the reason she was there. Chris sensed her awkwardness and felt bad.

"It's cool. I'll ask her," he said, heading out of the living room.

"I have to go too. I have a meeting with Tracy to go over some points for a trial next week," Dov said, standing from the couch.

"I'm on surveillance with Andy today," Chloe sighed.

"Booorrrrrinng," Frankie sang.

"I know, right?" Chloe laid back into the seat of the couch that Dov had forfeited. "But I don't have to go in until ten."

"Lucky," Frankie said, standing from the chair and stretching. She walked into the kitchen and rinsed out her coffee cup like she lived there. "I'm out. See ya at work, Muppet," she threw behind her as she walked out the door, not even looking in the direction of Gail's bedroom.

xxx

"I don't get it, Gail," Chloe said, exasperated, walking up to the woman in the locker room after shift.

"What a shock!" Gail mocked, completely unaware of Chloe's subject.

"Ha ha," Chloe said dryly, sitting on the bench. She hadn't been in the field at all today and had no reason to be in the locker room aside from tracking down her friend. "The Frankie thing-"

"Shh! What the hell is wrong with you, Chloe?!" Gail looked around the empty locker room in a panic.

"No one's here, Gail," Chloe told her. "Okay, so that person I'm not allowed to mention, I just don't get it."

"There's nothing to get, Chloe. And we are NOT talking about this here."

"Which means we can talk about it somewhere else..." Chloe nodded happily.

"I did not say that," Gail huffed.

"It was implied."

xxx

"So can you explain it to me?" Chloe asked the instant that they sat down at the bar.

"I really don't know what you want me to explain. You've had sex, right?" Gail was not going to make this conversation easy, though Chloe knew that going in.

"I don't mean the sex, Gail. Well I mean, yeah, the sex, but like _about_ the sex, not like details or anything," Chloe scrunched up her face in disgust. "Why are you doing this? What _are_ you even doing?"

"Why are you making this such a big deal?" Gail asked, fidgeting in her chair as she became more uncomfortable.

"Why _aren't_ you?"

"Because it's not a big deal. We are both adults. It's nothing more than it is," she shrugged.

"Okay, the first time, hell, the first like five times I let it go. None of my business. But now-"

"Still none of your business," Gail interrupted.

"Fair, but she's at the apartment all the time-"

"So are you."

"But Dov is my _boyfriend_ ," Chloe argued. "Is Frankie your girlfriend?"

"Oh _hell_ no! God! Do you really think I'm that damaged?" Gail chuckled. She wasn't pretending to find it absurd, she genuinely did.

"No, Gail. I don't. That's why I want you to explain it to me."

"It's sex, Chloe. That's it," Gail put her hands up and shrugged.

"You could have sex with a lot of different women, Gail. Why choose someone you barely even like?" Chloe asked, resting her chin in her hand as she awaited a response.

"It's easy." Gail sighed at the fact that she was openly having this conversation. "Sometimes, ya know, sometimes you want the chase. Like the challenge. Seeing if someone is interested in you, getting them to like you, blah blah blah. And sometimes you just wanna get off."

"Okay..." Chloe nodded. "No, I get that. I really do."

They sat in quiet contemplation for only a moment before Chloe spoke up again.

"So do you two ever like, snuggle? Or kiss? Even talk?"

"No, not really," she admitted. "That's not the point."

"Is it because of Holly?"

One question. Five words. It was like she set off a nuclear bomb.

" _Excuse me_?!" Gail's tone and entire demeanor and flipped faster than Chloe had ever seen it, and she didn't even get to clarify yet.

"I mean, maybe the situation with Frankie is easy _because_ you don't care about her, you know? Like you don't have to worry at all that you're going to grow feelings for her. If you were sleeping with someone else you might run the risk of falling for them. And if you fall for someone else then you have to admit that it's over with Holly."

"Who the _fuck_ are you to analyse my life, Price? Why the fuck do you think you know me? Frankie has _nothing_ to do with her and she never will." The venom in Gail's voice dissipated into pain as she spoke.

"Have you heard from her lately?" Chloe asked softly, to make sure that Gail knew she wasn't trying to be hurtful. She saw Gail's sadness no matter how hard the woman tried to hide it.

Gail shook her head silently, swallowing the tears that were running behind her eyes. "A few weeks ago," she said, nearly inaudibly. "Just a couple texts. Nothing real."

"That's good though, right?" Chloe smiled, putting her hand on top of Gail's and squeezing lightly.

Gail took a deep breath.

"It's not like it matters."

xxx

Weeks passed. The routine hadn't changed. It was as if Chloe and Gail had never had the enlightening conversation that was almost getting them somewhere. Subconsciously Chloe worried that bringing up Holly had only pushed Gail further into the unhealthy 'relationship' with Frankie. The detective was still at the apartment more mornings than not, she and Gail still acting like they barely knew each other.

"Black and yellow can suck it!" Chris yelled at the television before the game had even started.

"You know, statistically the odds of the Maple Leafs winning over the Penguins is like..." Dov began.

"None," Chloe finished.

"Geez, guys. Way to support the team," Chris sunk into his chair.

"We're realists," Chloe chuckled.

"Yeah, right."

The door to the apartment opened and Gail walked in with Frankie in tow. In all of their endeavors they had never come into the apartment together before the others had gone to bed. It was a strange change of pace and none of the roommates knew what to make of it. It was only eight thirty.

"Hey," Dov called out, hoping to create some normalcy.

"Hey," both Gail and Frankie called back.

"Game's on. Come join us," Chris added.

The girls each got a beer and made their way to the living room. Chloe quickly got up from the arm chair and joined Dov on the couch so that Gail and Frankie wouldn't have to sit on the couch next to one another. The look in Gail's eyes was a silent 'thank you'. She sat on the couch next to Chloe and Frankie made herself comfortable in the chair that had become her spot most mornings.

"Pittsburgh's gonna kick your ass," Frankie said casually, sipping her beer and pulling her legs under her.

"Aren't you from Vancouver?" Chris asked.

"Doesn't make the Penguins any less good," she said in the tone of 'duh.'

"No love..." Chris shook his head.

The hockey game and differences of opinion filled the space of whatever awkwardness could have taken place in the situation. Gail was grateful for it. Except Gail hated hockey. Gail hated sports. She played with her phone, checked some emails, just about anything to not have to watch the hockey game or engage with the others. It all became too much for her after about an hour.

"I'm going to take a shower," she excused herself and was out of the room before any of them had a chance to even make eye contact.

They looked after her with concern but Frankie's eyes remained glued to the game. Chloe felt the need to break the discomfort.

"Who needs a beer?" she asked, popping up from the couch and heading to the kitchen.

Dov and Chris each grunted something along the line of 'sure' while Frankie rose to walk to the kitchen as well. Chloe hovered in the refrigerator for a moment and waited but nothing came.

"You hungry?" Chloe asked, looking at the array of absolute crap in the kitchen and hoping that the girl said no.

"No." (Phew) "My leg was just asleep." (Lie)

"Oh, okay," Chloe nodded, taking the cap off of a beer bottle and handing it to Frankie who was leaning on the counter as though she didn't want to return to the living room just yet. "You alright?"

"Yeah," Frankie nods too enthusiastically.

All Chloe had to do was raise an eyebrow and lean next to her.

"I shouldn't be here, should I?" Frankie asked, completely uncharacteristically.

"You are really asking the wrong person," Chloe admitted, taking a long swill of her beer. "But what do you mean?"

"I don't even know why I _am_ here, honestly. I mean, this is your place-"

"You know I don't live here, right?" Chloe chuckled.

"No. You don't?" Frankie looked at her in disbelief.

"Nope," Chloe smiled.

"Well, regardless. It's just, I'm here and I end up spending more time with you three losers than with...her. Queen bitch loser."

Chloe actually burst out laughing. "I noticed," she admitted. "Why is that?"

"I don't know. That's why I'm saying I shouldn't be here."

"Well, I think we enjoy your company," Chloe smiled.

"Beer?" was suddenly called from the living room and Chloe honestly couldn't tell which of the guys had yelled it. She looked at the two undelivered bottles on the counter and shook her head at the cavemen.

"Come on. Finish watching the game with us," Chloe nodded her head toward the living room.

"There's no contest, but okay," Frankie smiled.

It was half-way through the third period when Gail finally emerged from the bathroom. She was wearing sweats and didn't make it the whole way into the living room before she called, "I'm going to bed."

"'Night," Chloe said politely.

"Yeah, g'night Gail," Chris answered. Dov had gone to bed before the third period even began, earning a coughed *loser* from Frankie.

Gail lingered between the rooms for a moment, staring at the back of Frankie's head without even realising it. She was the reason that the woman was there. She expected that Frankie would go to bed when she did. Plus, if they weren't going to have sex why was the woman even there?

Frankie caught Chloe's eyes accidentally, which moved in such a way to imply that Gail was waiting for her without Gail knowing they had the silent conversation.

"Oh, I'm gonna finish watching the game," Frankie said, looking back at Gail casually.

"Okay," Gail said, turning and quickly walking into her room, shutting the door.

Chris, for one, felt incredibly awkward. He tried to drown the feeling out by focusing on the game but by this point it was just useless. He looked at Frankie questionably for a moment, finally wondering just what was going on. He knew better than to ask.

The game came to an end, Pittsburgh up 4-2. Chris was disappointed despite his lack of support and excused himself to bed. Chloe remained lying on the couch, Frankie in the chair behind her head, the sound of the TV and dim light flowing around the discomfort. Without looking, Chloe reached back and handed the remote to Frankie, who chuckled and took it. She flipped through channels for a moment, found _Family Guy_ and left it on.

"This does _not_ seem like you," Chloe laughed, looking back just enough to almost have Frankie's face in her line of sight.

"I can be fun," Frankie said flatly.

"I know you can. That's not what I meant," she chuckled.

"I should probably go," Frankie sighed, standing and looking around, uncertainly.

"You're not going to bed?" Chloe asked, sitting up as well and stretching.

Frankie shrugged. "I probably should have gone to bed when she did. I mean, I'm not here to watch hockey with her friends, right?"

"I didn't know you were this insecure," flew out of Chloe's mouth before she had a chance to think better of it.

"I'm not!" Frankie spat, embarrassed and offended.

"No, no... I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that," Chloe apologized, walking closer to Frankie and holding her hands up in surrender. "I guess I just didn't know that this Gail thing meant anything to you, you know?"

"Well it doesn't. Not really," Frankie sighed. "I mean, I don't even really like her as a person let alone _like_ her," she admitted.

"So...why are you doing this?" Chloe asked. It felt like deja vu.

"Sex."

Chloe was really getting tired of sex being the reason for everything.

"Okay, so...why did you finish watching the game with us instead of going to bed with Gail?"

"Power," Frankie admitted directly. "I don't like her, but I don't like being at her beck and call, either."

Chloe nodded, impressed. "Good. You shouldn't."

Frankie sighed dramatically. "I guess I'm going to bed. Good talk," she high-fived Chloe and walked away.

Gail was still awake when Frankie walked into her room, dimly lit by the street lamp outside. Frankie took off her pants and was about to crawl into bed when something stopped her. Something in her gut. She wasn't sure what it was but it caused her to perch on the edge of the bed instead of lying down in it.

"What's up?" Gail asked, sounding annoyed.

"Nothing," Frankie responded automatically before rethinking it. "What are we doing?"

"Oh _God_!" Gail actually groaned, throwing her arm over her face in an attempt to avoid it. "You want to have 'the talk' now, don't you?" She sounded so irritated with the entire situation that Frankie almost just got up and left. Almost.

"It's not that serious, Gail. You don't have to be so dramatic," she said quietly.

"Exactly! It's not that serious. You don't have to be so dramatic."

Gail hadn't uncovered her face yet. Frankie knew she was trying to will 'the talk' away.

"Don't worry, Gail. I don't want to date you. I really don't even like you most days. I just wonder why we're doing this sometimes."

"You know _exactly_ why we're doing this! Sex. That's what it is and that's what it always has been. We don't have to like each other for that," Gail said, finally leaning up on her elbows and looking at Frankie.

Frankie knew that Gail was trying too hard, hiding some sort of underlying pain. Gail didn't like her either and Frankie knew that. But Gail was going above and beyond in the protest.

"If you want to actually date someone, if you want to fall in love or whatever, go for it. I'm not keeping you here," Gail said, a little less punch to her voice now.

Frankie crawled into bed anyway.


	5. Chapter 5

_Welcome back. This chapter is a lot of dialogue (though most of them are). I hope you enjoy. We're evolving appropriately now and I'm excited to hear what y'all think. Anyone who catches the other sort of lesbian tv show reference wins a prize. Thanks for your support._

The sun peeking though the curtain roused Gail into an irritated state of wake. She rubbed her eyes and groaned to herself, reaching for her cell phone immediately as she did upon waking every morning. No missed calls. No missed texts. In fact the only notification she had was from the ESPN app that Holly had installed a year ago. Gail hadn't been able to bring herself to delete it. She sighed, dropped her phone back onto the nightstand and rolled over to find an empty space beside her.

Gail sat up slightly and looked around the dimly lit room. All was quiet and still, as though no one had been in the room with her the night before. She wasn't sure if she felt that was a blessing or a curse. She fell back onto the pillow and stared at the ceiling for a moment, eventually picking up her cell phone again and going to her text messages. The first in the list of conversations was Holly, as it always had been. Since their first text, over two years ago, Gail had never deleted a single one.

"I miss you," she typed out. She stared at the plain letters on the screen for three solid minutes before backspacing them away.

Gail clumsily got out of the bed and found some shorts to pull on before making her way out to the kitchen. She was surprised to find Frankie on the couch, sipping coffee in silence. She looked pensive and sad. Gail thought about their conversation from the night before and a strange, almost pain fluttered across her chest.

"Whatcha doing?" Gail asked lightly, approaching the couch but not getting too near.

"Ah, nothing," Frankie sat up straighter suddenly, startled by Gail's presence. "Just having come coffee. I hope you don't mind," she added, feeling like she had really over-stayed her welcome at this point.

"No, not at all. That just means I don't have to wait for it to brew," Gail chuckled, going and pouring herself a cup.

Frankie stayed silent, fidgeting slightly under Gail's gaze.

"We're off today," Gail said abruptly.

"Yeah," Frankie half-laughed. "I know, Gail."

"So why don't you come back to bed?" she asked, raising her eyebrow slightly and motioning to the room.

Frankie was stunned into confusion. That was not the sort of thing that Gail proposed, ever. Normally they didn't even speak in the mornings, let alone go 'back to bed.' To Frankie it became evident that Gail would be more direct, more herself, when others weren't around. Had anyone else in the apartment been awake Frankie was certain the conversation would not have gone this way, had a conversation occurred at all.

"I actually have to go," Frankie told her, rising from the couch and going to get her bag out of the kitchen. "I have a lot that I want to get done today."

"Oh..." To say that Gail was stunned would have been an understatement. She was also humiliated, not that she would admit that. Throughout this entire situation the ball had been in her court and that's the way she liked it. That's the only way she'd have it. But this...this was unexpected.

"But, uh, thanks for the offer," Frankie nodded casually as she walked out of the apartment.

xxx

Gail was curled up on the couch in silence when Dov and Chloe came out of his room, both looking awake and ready for their days. They regarded Gail politely and went immediately to the coffee pot, per usual. It was apparent that they were looking around the room subtly, noticing that something (someone) was missing. Dov even peeked around to the bathroom to see if the door was shut. It wasn't.

"So..." Chloe started, and Gail sighed before the words were even out of the girl's mouth. "Where's Cranky Pants?" She consciously used the nickname instead of Frankie's actual name, hoping it would lessen the blow of her being brought up.

"She was busy," Gail shot out quickly, letting them know without question that it would be the end of the conversation.

"What are you going to do today?" Chloe changed the subject, perching on the couch next to the obviously sullen girl.

"The plan is nothing. A lot of it," she answered, picking up her phone and looking at it again.

"Well do you want to go to the gym? Or on a hike?" Chloe asked happily. "I have all this energy and I'm not sure which I-"

"No, Chloe. I do not want to go to the gym. Or on a hike. I already told you what I was doing today," Gail snapped, grabbing her phone and walking to her bedroom without another word.

Dov and Chloe looked at each other, concerned.

"Is it just me or is it getting worse?" Dov asked in a whisper as he approached.

"It's totally getting worse," Chloe sighed, honestly worried about her friend.

Despite their volatile relationship, Chloe had grown to love Gail through the years. She knew that Gail had grown to love her, too, even if the other would never admit it. When they were good, they were great friends. When they were bad Chloe knew that something was really wrong.

She considered knocking on Gail's door, pestering her under she talked about what was bothering her. Chloe had gotten close enough with Gail to know when that was what the woman needed and when it absolutely wasn't. Right now it was the latter.

Dov kissed Chloe goodbye before heading out to a meeting with his new Detective in Training friends, leaving her to contemplate her day. She really did have energy to expend. She also had her own apartment that she really needed to tend to. She gathered her things and prepared to go home. Before she left she made a point to knock lightly on Gail's door.

"I just wanted to tell you I'm going home. I'm there if you need me, Gail," she called quietly through the closed door. She didn't expect a response but she heard a faint 'Thank you,' as she walked out.

xxx

The energy that Chloe needed to expend was utilized on almost obsessively cleaning her apartment. She hadn't been spending much time there and it showed. Dust, vacuum, dishes, change of sheets. By the time she was done, hours had passed and it felt like home again. She actually missed it. She thought about what to make for dinner, now that her kitchen was clean.

Chloe sat back onto the couch and picked up her phone, preparing to look through recipes and wondering if she had heard from anyone, hoping she had heard from Gail. At least her friend knew that she was there if she needed her. That was all Chloe could do. She scrolled through her contacts and came across Holly's name. It would be so easy to send the displaced woman a text. Start a conversation that would lead to Gail. Chloe's decision making had always been spontaneous, which didn't always work out well for herself or others. The idea that Holly was really done with Gail crossed her mind. If she sent that text but Holly had moved on it would only make everything worse. So she didn't.

The whole situation with Gail had grown so much more involved than Chloe would ever have guessed. Losing Holly obviously affected Gail greatly. Losing Sophie only made it worse. Now this whole Frankie spiral seemed like Gail's retaliation toward herself and the universe. Chloe wished that she knew that it wouldn't help her heal.

The fact that the cranky detective was absent this morning only made Chloe more curious. Maybe she and Gail had had a fight? They fought almost every day and Gail had never seemed fazed by it before. Was Gail upset about Holly or Frankie today?

"This lesbian shit is intense," Chloe said aloud to no one, laughing at her reference.

If Gail and Frankie had a fight, she wondered what it could have been about. She thought back to the conversation that she had with Frankie the previous night; the conversation that Frankie, seemingly, willingly initiated. The woman was sick of being used and Chloe didn't blame her. Chloe would like to think that she would never allow herself to be in such a situation to begin with but she knew better than to predict something like that. She wondered if Frankie told Gail how she felt. Chloe knew that it wouldn't have gone well if she had.

Without conscious thought, Chloe brought up Frankie's number in her cell phone. This wasn't like texting Holly; it wouldn't be life altering to anyone. The worst case scenario was that she would piss off the detective, which was already a daily occurrence. What did she have to lose?

"You ok?" Simple. Direct. If Frankie didn't want to answer, she could just ignore it.

Just a few minutes later Chloe's phone beeped, surprising her greatly.

"Why the hell would you ask that, Muppet?" was Frankie's response.

So much for just not answering.

"I didn't see you this morning," Chloe typed.

"So what?" - F.

"Gail seemed upset. I didn't see you. I just wanted to make sure you were ok. After our talk last night." - C.

"Forget the talk. It was stupid. And don't worry about not seeing me." - F.

Everybody was just a bundle of joy today.

"Whatever. I won't. Sue me for worrying." - C.

Chloe stood and went to the kitchen, her blood pressure high from all the negative energy surrounding her life at the moment. She knew that she got too involved but that was just her nature. She cared about those around her and she always had. Sometimes too much. Sometimes enough to disrupt her own life. She hated that.

Her phone beeped again as she pulled out a bottle of wine, planning to have a glass, read and relax.

"I'm going to the Penny for dinner." - F.

"In half an hour." - F.

Chloe smiled and shook her head at the stubborn and vulnerable detective. People always made fun of her for being like a child but her friends took the cake when it came to temper tantrums and mood swings. She knew that if she replied something that implied she would be there then the 'invitation' would be revoked.

"Ok."

xxx

Gail hadn't gotten dressed all day. She was perfectly pleased with that. The apartment had been empty for hours, which only pleased her more. For a while she had actually allowed herself to cry. It didn't happen often but when it did, it _really_ did. She felt lost, which was something Gail Peck was not used to.

At 6:37PM Gail picked up her phone and decided she didn't have anything to lose. She was alone, crying in her pajamas. Holly was already in San Francisco. It really couldn't get any worse.

"How are you doing? I'd really like to hear from you, if you have a chance." Gail texted, setting her phone down at her side and throwing her arm over her eyes as she fought off tears.

Even if she heard from Holly it's not like it would change anything. Gail wondered why she wasn't over this by now. Her entire life she had been resilient. Get knocked down, get back up, emotionally or otherwise. Nothing had ever knocked her down like Holly Stewart had. When she left, Gail was devastated but she knew that eventually she'd get back up like she always had. Except now a year had passed and she was still on the ground.

At 7:03PM Gail's phone beeped. She pretended she was calm in her head but had anyone been there they would have seen her practically tackle her phone to the ground.

"Sorry I just got this. I was working late. How are you Gail? I saw a lunchbox today and thought of you ;) " - H.

The smile that spread across Gail's face was one that she hadn't felt the magnitude of in months. It was a simple text. It wasn't like Holly said she was coming back to Toronto or anything like that, but to Gail it was everything. Like some of the weight that had been on her chest for months was starting to lift.

Gail was so busy being okay for a moment that she didn't respond immediately. Her phone beeped again.

"Can I call you later? In a couple hours? I don't want it to be too late there." - H.

Gail smiled again. "Absolutely."

xxx

The Penny was just quiet enough to make Chloe feel comfortable walking in alone. That was a rare occurrence since she was always there with people from Fifteen, at least Dov. There were a few folks at the bar and only one table taken by a couple. She was intentionally late, hoping not to beat Frankie there and look like she was waiting for her. This whole daycare game was exhausting. Frankie kind of indirectly invited Chloe to the Penny, implying that she wanted to talk (at least Chloe assumed that's what she implied). But if Chloe had readily accepted the invitation Frankie would have run away again. And now Chloe was standing in a bar, by herself, waiting for a woman that was rude to her ninety percent of the time and saw her as her only confidant the other ten. Chloe blew the hair out of her face and ordered a beer.

"I see why you're not a detective, Muppet," Frankie said, suddenly at her side at the bar.

"Jesus!" Chloe gasp, startled by the sudden presence.

"I'm in the back booth. You didn't look too close, huh?" she laughed, smacking Chloe on the arm affectionately.

"I- I thought I did. I didn't see you," Chloe said, taking her beer and walking to the back with Frankie.

"Evidently."

They sat down in the quiet booth and sipped their beers in silence for a few solid minutes. Chloe wanted Frankie to have control of this conversation. She knew that's the only way it would be a success. Chloe had to tame her bold, direct personality this time.

After five minutes, the awkwardness became overbearing.

"How was your day?" they said simultaneously, looking at each other oddly for a second before laughing out loud.

"It was getting weird, huh?" Frankie laughed.

"Yeah," Chloe nodded. "Two minutes of silence I can handle. Five? That's the limit."

"Fair," Frankie nodded.

"So..." Chloe said with a rolling hand motion, waiting.

"I know you're expecting me to start a conversation but I honestly don't even know what to say," Frankie admitted, scratching her temple and staring at the bubbles in her beer.

"Just pretend I'm not here," Chloe said seriously, causing Frankie to look up, confused. "Like, have the conversation as though you're just talking about it to yourself."

"Well I coulda done that at home. With Scotch," Frankie noted.

"I'm way better than Scotch," Chloe grinned. "Just try it. What are you feeling right now?"

"Aside from the Muppet-shaped pain in my ass, you mean?"

"Ha ha," Chloe rolled her eyes. "Go on," she rolled her hand again, saying 'get on with it' without saying it.

"What did you do today?" Frankie asked, not quite able to just jump into her feelings.

"Not much," Chloe admitted. "Cleaned my apartment and thought about my lesbi-friends," she said, honestly.

"My, my, Muppet! I didn't think I'd see your freaky side for a few weeks, at least!" Frankie teased her, clinking her glass to Chloe's with a smirk.

"Uh- you- dammit! You know that's not what I meant!" but the blush was creeping up her neck already. She hadn't meant for it to come out like that, particularly in the company of someone who would thrive on calling her out about it. "I meant you children, you and Gail. I might be a muppet but you two are in pre-school!"

"I'm not upset about Gail. Not really," Frankie told her, the segue to the real conversation successful. She swirled her beer in her glass and looked like she wanted to say more.

"So what are you upset about?"

"The situation, I guess. I never realised how fucked up it was until last night."

"Did you talk to her about it?" Chloe asked, finishing her beer and setting the glass to the side.

"I- almost. I tried, I guess," Frankie shrugged, avoiding Chloe's eyes again.

"And...?"

"I'm an idiot."

"Why would you say that?" Chloe asked, brow furrowed.

"Because I slept with her anyway."

Chloe saw the pain in Frankie's eyes in the few moments that she would allow them to meet hers. She saw the shame behind them.

"That's why you weren't there this morning." It was a statement, not a question.

"I was up early. Sat on the couch and thought about everything until Gail got up. She told me to come back to bed," Frankie looked up for a split second to see the surprise on Chloe's face.

"And?"

"I told her I had to go. I got out of there pretty quick. And you know what's fucked up? When I walked away from her, I felt like I was winning for once. Like it's a goddamn game," she shook her head and finished her beer.

"It is a game," Chloe said, not trying to be harsh, just honest.

"Last night I asked her what we were doing and she was just so annoyed that I even brought it up, ya know? So _Gail_ about it. She said it was sex. I knew that, she knew that, and if I wanted more then I should go find it with someone else."

"Ouch," Chloe grimaced before waving the server for two more beers.

"And then I had sex with her anyway," Frankie threw her hands up in frustration.

"So you felt like she won."

"She did fucking win! I should have left right then," Frankie gulped some of her new beer. "I woke up this morning feeling so stupid. It is just sex, but it's not even worth the feeling I had this morning."

"I'll tell you the same thing I told Gail: You could be having sex with lots of different women. It doesn't have to be her. _Why_ her?" Chloe asked, taking it all in.

"I don't know. It's easy?"

"Oh God, you two are like the same person and it's disgusting," Chloe shook her head at their similarities. "Are you heartbroken? Are you damaged from a previous relationship?" The firing squad was coming out now.

"No, why?" Frankie chuckled at Chloe's sudden intensity.

"Then there's no fucking excuse!" she slammed her fist on the table. "Gail has Holly to hide behind. If you're not heartbroken then _try harder_. Find a decent girl that doesn't just get into yelling matches with you, or use you for sex, or think she has all the power. Try harder!"

"Who's Holly?"

xxx


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter 6. This story is just flying through me. I hope y'all are still on board. I apologise for not incorporating as much Gail/Holly and most of you would like but it will come in time. This story is an onion. Originally I had two different story ideas in mind and I just decided to kind of melt them together. Anyway, enjoy. Let me know what you think, even the bad stuff. There's always room to grow. Thanks for dealing with my spirally mind._

"But they didn't have some awful, Lifetime movie break-up?" Frankie asked, thoroughly confused. Through three more beers and a shot of Patron, Chloe had gone over most of the key points of 'Office Lunchbox'.

"It didn't end terribly, I guess, but it ended. She was Gail's only hope," Chloe sighed. "In Gail's eyes, I mean. Not me. I'm sure Gail could find a nice girl and fall in love again and-"

"Got it," Frankie chuckled, holding a hand up to stop the increasingly intoxicated Muppet's rant. "Big, tough Gail Peck actually let someone in only to have to her heart crushed," she simplified, making Chloe wish she had said it so directly an hour ago.

"Exactly!" Chloe smacked the table. "She doesn't like to talk about it though," she added quietly.

"It does...make sense, I guess," Frankie contemplated, having another drink of her beer. "I just thought she was heartless. It's kind of nice to know that she's not."

"She's definitely not. Gail's great. She just really doesn't like it when people know that," Chloe smiled.

Chloe's phone beeped a text notification, bringing her back to the real world; the girl had gotten sucked in to the dark booth, the alcohol and the captivating conversation with Frankie. She looked at the detective apologetically before turning her phone over and seeing the time: 11:13PM

"Holy crap it got late!" Chloe exclaimed, earning a laugh from Frankie.

"Muppet..." she muttered quietly.

Chloe opened her text app to see that she had missed three from Dov. How had she not heard the first two?

8:32PM: "I'm home. Are you coming over tonight? Hope so ;) " - D.

9:54PM: "Maybe you fell asleep? Let me know." - D.

11:11PM: "Are you ok? I'm getting worried. I hope you come over when you get this." - D.

Chloe laughed out loud at the texts even though she wasn't completely sure why. Dov and his concern were amusing to her. She had been shot, stuck in a fire and almost blown up in recent years, she reasoned but that was only at work. He shouldn't be worried on their day off.

Instead of explaining her laughter to Frankie she simply handed her phone over for the girl to see. Frankie looked at the screen for a moment before raising her eyes to Chloe skeptically.

"Somebody's in trouble..." she sang, handing the phone back.

"Ha! Yeah, right," Chloe chuckled, beginning to dance in her seat by herself. "I'll just go over there and tell him that he is an old man worrier and he needs to calm down. And then I'll go to bed like an old lady because we have work in the morning," she smiled so brightly that it made Frankie laugh.

"You're really gonna go over there now?" Frankie asked, eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, why?" Chloe asked, rifling through her purse for her wallet.

"Muppet, I think you're a little more drunk than you realise," she told her bluntly.

"Naw, I'm fine!" she answered, too dramatically. "I've only had..." she counted on her fingers, "Four?" she pondered. "Four, right? And a shot," she nodded.

"On a school night!" Frankie teased.

Chloe was nowhere near hammered. She was, however, more intoxicated than she knew. Bedtime was a good idea. Facing the boyfriend before it? Maybe not.

"I appreciate your concern, Detective Cranky Pants. But I'll be fine," Chloe smiled. "What about you? Are you fine?" she got wide eyed and worried.

"I'm fine, Chlo. And I know you are too, I just don't want you to get in trouble," Frankie shrugged as though she was feigning detachment.

"You said my name..." Chloe smiled happily. "Almost."

"Oh God," Frankie groaned, face palming. "Go home and go to bed, old lady Muppet."

"I shall," Chloe stood and literally curtsied, hugged Frankie roughly and cautiously walked away.

xxx

"Hello, boyfriend," Chloe sang into the hallway of the apartment as she entered to find Dov sitting in the living room with Gail. "And Gail."

"Ooohhh...someone's drunk," Gail grinning maniacally, sticking her tongue out and doing a little dance.

"And _someone's_ in a better mood," Chloe noted, sitting on the couch next to Gail and smiling at Dov like he was an ice cream sandwich.

Gail just smiled slightly and nodded.

"Seriously, Chloe? I thought you were going to your apartment?" Dov said sternly, interrupting whatever conversation she and Gail were potentially about to have.

"I did," Chloe told him, looking around like she was on Candid Camera or something. Was he actually mad?

"I texted you three times before you got back. Did you just sit at home and drink by yourself?" he asked, his concern coming across more aggressively than he realised.

"No... And even if I had, so what?" Chloe challenged, causing Gail to smirk proudly.

" _You_ stay out of this!" he pointed at Gail, catching her smirk.

"Really, Dov? I was on this couch before _either_ of you," she pointed out, not angry but kind of in awe.

"So you just go out drinking by yourself now? Or maybe you weren't by yourself" Dov asked defensively, though slightly more calm thanks to Gail's minor reality check.

"God, Dov. I was just with Frankie. Get over yourself," Chloe told him, shaking her head and seriously considering just going back home. Frankie was right. She was worried about Chloe getting in 'trouble' and now here she was.

"Frankie?!" Dov exclaimed, shocked.

Gail was surprised as well but knew to keep her mouth shut in this particular instance.

"Yes, Dov. Frankie. Remember her?"

"You don't have to have an attitude about it," Dov said quietly.

"Me?! An attitude?" Chloe scoffed.

"Why the hell would you be out with _Frankie_?" Dov asked, throwing his hands up in frustration.

"Why not? I think we're friends now," Chloe said, but she turned to Gail instead of Dov. Gail only nodded, unsure if she should be proud (Chloe seemed proud) or happy for her friend.

"So you go to your apartment and then decide to go out and get drunk with Frankie, someone you barely even know, and ignore my texts?"

"Okay, dude, I know you told me to stay out of this, but I'm stepping in," Gail warned. "Chloe can go out with whoever she wants, whenever she wants. Whatever you're doing right now, it's not you and as your friend, it needs to stop."

"Thank you," Chloe smiled at Gail. "We were just supposed to be going out to dinner and then we got to talking and -"

"Chloe, stop while you're ahead, man," Gail said, biting her lip to keep from laughing out loud at Chloe's dig-a-hole ramble and the look on Dov's face.

"I told her about Holly," Chloe piped up suddenly, only looking at Gail now.

Gail paled visibly. That was the absolute last thing that she expected to come out of Drunk Chloe's mouth. She furrowed her brow and contemplated her reaction.

"Um...why?" was all she could come up with.

"It was an accident, mostly," Chloe admitted, leaning back into the couch and relaxing slightly. "We were talking about you, and Frankie, and girls. I told Frankie that I thought she could get herself a nice girl if she wanted. Not that you're not a nice girl. That's not what I mean. You know. Don't you think Frankie could meet a nice girl if she got her cranky head out of her ass once in a while?"

Any anger or embarrassment Gail had begun to feel was washing away with each drunk, stupid thing that Chloe said.

"Holly, Chloe. Get back to Holly."

"Right," Chloe nodded. "Well I asked if Frankie was heartbroken. Like not over someone. She said no so I told her to try fucking harder, you know?" Gail kind of nodded. "Like with you, I get why you're not trying to date or whatever. But with Frankie there's no excuse. I think Frankie gets where you're coming from a little bit more now. Not that you care about that at all," she added defensively, not trying to make Gail angry.

"Oh Chloe," Gail actually smiled, sincerely. "You're a good friend. You're kind of a drunk idiot, but you're a good friend."

Chloe's smile beamed. She reached across the couch and squeezed Gail into a bear hug.

"What the hell is the matter with you, Chloe?" Dov said suddenly, breaking the girl's embrace with her still unwilling to hug friend. "For months now all you talk about is Gail and Frankie. What they're doing. Why they're doing it. At first it was just some sort of irritating project but now you're like analysing their lives. Getting drunk with Frankie. You know you're not actually a shrink, right?" he asked, standing and beginning to pace. "If you paid _half_ as much attention to me as-"

"Hold on," Chloe stopped him, standing as well. "Ever since you got Detective in Training you're out with all your new friends all the time. Have you ever _once_ heard me complain about that? Have I ever asked you where you were or who you were with? Have I ever accused you of ignoring my text messages because you were out with your friends?"

Gail sat and watched the match, concerned but still oddly entertained.

"No, but only because you don't care as much," he told her.

"You get to decide who cares more? That's cute, Dov. Super cute," Chloe shook her head, getting angrier by the moment as she sobered up. "Let's get honest then, okay? You want to go and do whatever you want with your friends and you expect me to be sitting here waiting for you when you get home. That's not me. It never has been and you know it. You do what you wanna do and I'm going to do what I want to do. The only difference is _I'm_ not dick enough to try to make you feel bad about it."

Chloe gathered her things from the couch, touched Gail's shoulder and quietly said, "Text me," before walking out of the apartment, leaving Dov standing there speechless.

"Wow..." Gail said quietly once Chloe was out of the apartment.

"Right? What's gotten into her?" Dov said, shaking his head and trying to take it all in. "And isn't it kind of messed up that our girls are spending time together instead of with us?"

"Ah!" Gail put her hand up. "Stop right there, Epstein. Frankie is _not_ my girl. She is free to go to dinner with Chloe or whoever else she wants."

"That's the problem, Gail!" Dov nearly screamed, stepping closer to her. "If you weren't all about this 'game' with Frankie then I wouldn't be in this situation right now!"

"Excuse me? How does what I do with Frankie have _anything_ to do with you?" Gail was heated now. Dov had said some stupid things to Chloe and Gail was proud that the girl had stood up for herself. But for her friend to now turn it on her was appalling.

"You're so immature. Ever since you started sleeping with Frankie it's all Chloe talks about. If Frankie wasn't here all the goddamn time then she and Chloe wouldn't be hanging out."

"Wow..." Gail laughed thickly and shook her head. "That's really something, Dov. You're pissed because your girlfriend went out to dinner; that's fucked up in itself. But then to make the full circle of blame and turn it into _my_ fault? That's delusional. If you have problems with Chloe maybe you should start asking yourself what _you_ could be doing differently."

"Says the master of relationships, right?" he shot without considering the consequences.

"Fuck you, Dov," Gail said, livid. "You need to grow some balls and grow the fuck up or you're going to lose her. And me."

Gail was all the way to her bedroom doorway before she called back, "And thanks for ruining my fucking good mood!"

xxx

Chloe was pacing around her kitchen holding an unopened bottle of vodka, swearing to herself under her breath. She couldn't believe the way that Dov was acting tonight. She couldn't decide if she was more upset about how he was acting or about the fact that she had evidently always lived up to his unfair, unrealistic girlfriend ideals until tonight. She wasn't allowed to go out with a friend? She went out with her friends all the time. Chloe wondered if it would have been different if the person in question wasn't Frankie.

Dov never seemed to have a problem with Frankie in the past. They all had conversations over morning coffee, or at work, often. Chloe couldn't wrap her head around where this was coming from. She willed herself to stop thinking about it, to stop caring, but she looked at the bottle of vodka in her hand and sighed.

Chloe knew that she had already had enough to drink for the night. The alarm would wake her early the next morning and she just needed to get to bed, if only she could stop being angry long enough to relax. She thought about Frankie, worrying that she would get in trouble and telling her that she was more intoxicated than she realised. That was hours ago. She put the bottle back in the cabinet.

The Spice Girls ringtone that Chloe had chosen went off suddenly and the girl swore aloud, assuming it was Dov and having every intention of declining the call. She was surprised to see Gail's name on the screen. Chloe sighed. She really hoped that Gail wasn't on Dov's side, calling to tell Chloe what a fuck up she was.

"Hello?" Chloe said quietly, the irritation apparent in her voice even though she tried to mask it.

"I talked to Holly today," Gail said. She sounded tired but Chloe could still hear her smile through the phone.

"You did?!" Chloe was ecstatic for her friend and also very happy that Gail wanted to share it with her.

"Yep. And your cunt of a boyfriend almost ruined all of my happiness about it. So I wanted to call and tell you so that I didn't let him," Gail laughed.

"That's awesome, Gail. Tell me everything. And I'm sorry about him," Chloe said sadly.

"Don't apologise for him," Gail told her sternly. "So yeah, I figured I didn't have anything to lose so I texted her today. She made a joke about seeing a lunchbox and asked if she could call me."

Gail's audible smile was back.

"How'd it go?!"

"Good," Gail nodded. "I think it went really good. We talked for like an hour. Not really about anything, but you know."

"She misses you," Chloe stated. She may not have heard that from Holly directly but that didn't make it any less true.

"I think she does," Gail grinned. "I kept telling myself that she didn't, that she was just over it, but hearing her voice tonight... I think she's going to come visit soon."

"Yes! Gail that's incredible. You have to find out when so we can plan this like, perfect date." Chloe had completely forgotten about Dov the Dick.

"Okay, girlie. Geez. Hold on to that Babysitters Club bullshit. I don't even know if she's coming yet," Gail chuckled.

"Okay but if she does I'll be damned if you're just going to sit in the frat house the whole time. We need to plan!"

"Speaking of dates..." Gail began, causing Chloe to think she was secretly planning her Holly visit already, "How was dinner with Frankie?"

Chloe could actually hear the smirk on the other line.

xxx


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter 7. Sorry it's been a few days. I went back to work and you know how that goes. Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed. I hope you like the direction that I'm taking with the story. I hope to update again soon. Thanks again. Enjoy._

"It was NOT a date!" Chloe argued, swiveling around in her chair, away from Gail, trying to focus on the evidence report in front of her.

Two days had passed and Gail had still not let it go, partially because it was nice to be up in _Chloe's_ business for once, instead of the other way around. Mostly, Gail just loved to make the girl squirm. Even though she knew it (probably) wasn't a date, the blush and ramble she received in reaction every time she brought it up was worth it.

"Does _she_ know that it wasn't a date?" Gail asked, turning Chloe's chair back around to face her.

"Yes she knows it wasn't a date!" Chloe squeaked. "It was just dinner. We're just friends, Gail."

"We're not friends," Frankie said flatly, suddenly behind them en route across the office.

Chloe reddened instantly, causing Gail to chuckle.

"Wh- what would make you think we were talking about you?" Chloe stuttered out, meeting the woman's eyes reluctantly.

"Why _wouldn't_ you be talking about me, Muppet?" Frankie smirked, throwing a wink over her shoulder as she walked away.

"HA!" Gail said loudly, pointing at Chloe and her blush.

"There is no 'ha'!" Chloe argued, eyes wide.

"There is _so_ a 'ha'," Gail laughed, shaking her head.

"Gail, how long have we known each other?"

"Too long."

"Exactly. And in that time have you ever known me to be attracted to a woman?" Chloe asked, a solid defense.

"No. But there are plenty of things that I may not have 'known' you to do. Doesn't mean you don't do them," Gail countered.

"You do remember that I have a boyfriend, right?" Next argument.

"So what?"

"So what? So you're telling me that if you and Holly were together-"

"I'll stop you right there," Gail said, putting a hand up. "You and Dov are _no_ me and Holly."

Chloe couldn't even fight that one.

"It wasn't a date," Chloe said, defeated.

"You know I just like to give you shit, right?" Gail said, softening slightly. "Have you worked things out with Dov yet?"

"Have you seen me at your apartment for two days?"

"Geez, touchy. I just assumed you were at Frankie's," she smirked.

xxx

"Where are you?" - F.

The following week, a text notification surprised Chloe as she sat on the bench, drying her hair after a much needed shower. It was still warm for early fall and running around the city in her uniform never led to smelling nicely.

"Locker room." - C.

Chloe wondered for a moment what the text was about. She and Frankie didn't really text that often, aside from the occasional late night conversation in the event that they weren't at the same place at the same time. It was more strange for Frankie to ask about her location instead of just texting whatever it was she wanted to discuss.

Before Chloe had time to overthink it Frankie appeared, walking up confidently and dropping herself onto the bench next to Chloe.

"I'm bored," she almost whined, lying back across the bench.

"You haven't even left work yet," Chloe chuckled, suddenly glad that she was in a tank top and jeans instead of ... less.

"I don't mean this second, Muppet. I mean in general. I'm sick of the Penny. That's all we ever do," Frankie said, full-on whine this time.

"We went to that restaurant last week," Chloe countered, seeing Gail's head pop out from behind the other row of lockers with a wide smirk on her face. She shook her head and pointed at Gail in warning.

"Yeah. It was nice there," Frankie said, nodding though her head was lying flat on the bench and she wasn't looking at Chloe. "But I mean for drunken fun times," she clarified.

"Okay..." Chloe balled up her towel and went to her locker to find an actual shirt, waiting for Frankie to elaborate.

"I want to get 'Chloe-Drunk'," she told her, turning her head just enough to look her in the eye.

Since their first 'dinner', getting drunk had been referred to as 'Chloe-Drunk.' It's namesake still wasn't sure how she felt about the term.

"There's a new club that opened up downtown a few weeks ago. I want to go there tonight," Frankie finished, direct as ever.

"Is it a gay club?" Gail asked suddenly, fully peeking around the lockers.

If Frankie was startled she didn't show it.

"Are you making another gay joke, Peck? Didn't we already argue about how that's kind of in bad taste?" Frankie asked, turning her head to the side to see the blond woman peering.

"It wasn't a gay joke," Gail told her seriously. "I really just wanted to know if it was a gay club," she shrugged, walking around to their side of the lockers with Andy a few feet behind her.

"Naw," Frankie shook her head, obviously knowing that Gail was being sincere. "Gay clubs around here suck. They're all drag queens and beards."

Chloe busied herself in the locker as though the entire conversation was not going on around her. She dug to the bottom then dug again, never seeming to find whatever it was she was searching for. What was she searching for? Oh right, a shirt.

"You guys wanna come with us?" Frankie asked, propping herself up on her elbows and looking at Gail and Andy.

Chloe turned to her for a moment, her eyes stating that she herself had never technically agreed to go to any club. Frankie got the message but simply smiled in response.

"We wouldn't want to crash your party," Gail said, grinning at Chloe.

"It'll be fun," Frankie promised, even though she had never even been to the club.

"I'm in," Andy nodded, seeming pleased with the idea. "I haven't gotten wasted in a while."

"That's the spirit!" Frankie laughed.

Chloe was still reserved. She eventually found her shirt and sat on the bench as she buttoned it up. Gail and Andy had wandered away and Frankie's tone changed.

"Are you worried you're going to get in trouble?" she asked quietly, seeing Chloe's hesitation and not understanding it's root.

"No!" Chloe said defensively. "I wasn't worried last time and I'm not now."

"But last time you _did_ get in trouble," Frankie countered.

"Yeah, for no reason. I do what I want to do," she told her, standing and smoothing her shirt before picking up her bag.

"So do you _want_ to go to this club with me tonight?" Frankie asked quietly. "It's okay if you don't."

"No. I'm totally in," she smiled, bumping Frankie's arm with her elbow. "Let's get 'Chloe-Drunk'".

xxx

"This place is a _lot_ busier than I imagined," Andy said, wide-eyed as they made their way through the club. It was packed with sweaty, grinding twenty-somethings and they felt at least a little out of place.

"It only opened last month. And it's a Friday," Frankie shrugged, seeking out the bar among the people.

"Drinks," Gail stated in a demanding, caveman tone, her eyes flitting back and forth through the crowd.

"Yes," Frankie agreed, seeing the bar in the corner and pointing to it.

Chloe hung back slightly, feeling uncomfortable despite her bubbly, people-oriented personality. This was a bit extreme, even for her. She had put a lot of thought and effort (perhaps too much) into her outfit and she left the house feeling confident. She was feeling a little less confident now.

"You with us, Chlo?" Frankie asked suddenly, stopping to make sure the girl was near.

Andy looked to Gail questioningly but Gail just shrugged it off.

"Drinks," Chloe reiterated, walking up next to Frankie.

The bar was less crowded than the rest of the club, a blessing. Frankie looked to the other three for only a moment before ordering four tequila shots. No one argued. They each ordered their own drink of choice and found seats, taking a moment to regroup and take it all in.

"You sure this isn't a gay club?" Gail chuckled, pointing out too men aggressively making out in the corner.

"We're lucky to live in a society where any bar can be a gay bar," Frankie chuckled. They toasted to that.

It wasn't long before a tall, dark-haired and beautiful woman approached them, looking only at Gail. She had her smile on before she was within three feet of the group.

"Hey," the woman said, acting casual, looking at Gail like she was dessert.

"Hello," Gail threw out awkwardly, sipping her drink and looking to her friends for backup. Unfortunately her friends had literally backed up in order to make room for the stranger.

"I've never seen you here before," she said, leaning a little closer.

'Oh God, one of those?' Gail thought. 'Not even an attempt at an original pick up line.'

"I've never been here before," Gail told her, tone flat.

"Good reason," the woman chuckled. "I was wondering if you wanted to dance with me?" Cut right to the chase.

"Um, I'm sorry but no thank you. I don't dance and I'm here with my friends, so..."

"Oh. Okay. Well if you change your mind, my name is Caroline," she said, extending her hand, which Gail reluctantly shook.

After lingering for only a moment, Caroline disappeared back into the crowd and Andy, Chloe and Frankie returned to their positions next to Gail, each looking at her expectantly.

"What?" Gail asked, irritated.

"We've been here all of," Andy looked at her watch, "thirty minutes and you already got hit on."

"By a lady, no less," Chloe added.

"A hot lady," Frankie said quietly.

"So? I mean, I might not be very personable but I'd like to think I'm usually okay to look at..." Gail rolled her eyes.

"How'd she even spot you through all these people?" Chloe asked. "Her gaydar must be some NASA shit."

"We need more tequila."

xxx

After a few more shots and another rum and coke, Gail's 'I don't dance' had become a blatant lie. She saw Caroline across the room as she danced with all three of her friends and chuckled to herself.

"Why'd you say no?" Frankie asked suddenly over the music, seeing Gail notice the woman that hit on her.

"What?" Gail furrowed her brow, confused.

"The chick. She was hot. Why didn't you dance with her?"

Gail shrugged. "Just wasn't feeling it."

"Because of Holly?" Frankie asked, surprising Gail.

Chloe admitted that she had told Frankie about Holly. That didn't mean that she and her ex-friend-with-benefits would ever have to have an actual conversation about her.

Gail sighed loudly and dramatically, rolling her eyes.

"I'm not trying to be rude, Gail. I was just wondering," Frankie told her, watching Chloe and Andy dance awkwardly behind them, out of earshot.

"Yeah, okay? I don't want to be with anyone but Holly. Not even to dance. Are you happy now?" Gail spat.

"I wasn't trying to make you admit it. I've just never felt that way about anyone before. I can't imagine. I think it's kind of awesome," Frankie admitted, shrugging to seem nonchalant. "Oooh you should text her!" she decided suddenly, even slapping Gail on the arm excitedly.

Gail had to laugh. "Why would I do that?"

"Tell her some chick just hit on you like three hot minutes after we got here. It'll be great."

"To make her jealous?" Gail asked, not fully understanding.

"Not...necessarily," Frankie contemplated. "Kind of to make a big joke out of it. Let her know that dancing with the chick wasn't even an option. Don't say that directly though; that's cheesy. And if you in turn, accidentally make her jealous..."

Gail smirked and thought about what the woman was suggesting.

"You know what? That might not be a terrible idea."

xxx

"Drink..." Chloe whined, sweaty, as she walked across the dance floor and put her forehead on Frankie's shoulder.

Frankie chuckled. Gail and Andy were already at the bar but Frankie and Chloe had yet to cease the dancing.

"You sure about that, little muppet?" she asked, wrapping an arm around the girl's waist naturally.

"I'm not 'Chloe-Drunk,' I promise. I'm just sweaty and gross and it's only twelve thirty," Chloe told her, smiling.

"Then drinks it is," Frankie laughed, still swaying slightly to the music as Chloe moved with her.

xxx

"So..." Andy said slowly, interrupting Gail from her text conversation.

"Sorry," Gail said sheepishly. "Bad social etiquette or whatever, right?" she asked, putting her phone in her pocket.

"No, not that. I don't care about that," Andy scoffed. "Them," she corrected, nodding to Frankie and Chloe on the dance floor. They weren't really 'dancing' but Frankie's arm was around Chloe's waist and Chloe appeared to be playing with Frankie's hair.

"What about them?" Gail asked calmly, finishing another drink.

"Are they, like...together? I mean, I heard Frankie ask Chloe out tonight. I didn't think we were crashing a date, though."

"We're not. No, they're not together," Gail laughed, watching the two women on the floor for a moment. "I don't think..."

"Yeah, I'm not really sure I'm buying that," Andy laughed as they watched Chloe whisper something in Frankie's ear before pulling her into a hug.

"I give Chloe shit about it a lot, but she says they're not together, so..." Gail shrugged.

"Would it bother you if they were?" Andy asked, drawing Gail's full attention.

"Bother me? Why would it bother me?" Gail asked a little too sharply.

"Come on, Gail. Do you think I'm an idiot? Actually, don't answer that," Andy laughed.

Gail stared at her blankly.

"I know you and Frankie were...whatever you were. It was a little more obvious than you think," Andy admitted.

Gail didn't know how to respond. Andy didn't hang out with them outside of work all that often. All she would have seen at work was Gail and Frankie bickering.

"We weren't- oh, fuck it," Gail decided. "We weren't serious, okay? I don't know what we were, but whatever it was wasn't anything."

"Okay," Andy nodded.

"So, no, it wouldn't bother me. It might almost be cute in a puke your guts out kind of way."

"Eww..." Andy said. "I think you're right."


	8. Chapter 8

_This is a short one. Chapter nine is already in the works, though. It's getting a little more dramatic than I anticipated, particularly in upcoming chapters. Thanks to everyone for reading. Let me know what you think._

"Oh my God!" Frankie said, her genuine shock startling the girls.

"What?" Chloe asked, stepping up to her slightly.

"You don't have fifteen cats?!" she put a hand her to chest dramatically.

"Fuck you..." Chloe rolled her eyes, gaining an eyebrow wag in response.

The night had turned into nearly 3 A.M. which in turn had ended up with all four girls planning to stay at Chloe's apartment. It was the closest to the club and they had all spent so much money there that the less Uber fare the better.

"It's cute here," Andy said, only slightly less intoxicated than the others.

"Why thank you," Chloe smiled. "Make yourselves at home. I'm finding more alcohol."

Gail groaned loudly and fell back onto a recliner.

"Are you done drinking, Gail?" Chloe asked, turning back before heading into the kitchen.

"Nope," she grinned, pulling out her phone and tap tap tapping away at the keys once again.

Chloe made her way into the kitchen and pulled out the wine and vodka, neither of which had she gotten around to drinking in the prior weeks. Her equilibrium was only slightly off and she was honestly having a great time. The club may not have been her 'scene' but a few drinks and dances in she had relaxed noticeably. It was the first time in a while that she felt like she had actual girl friends. She was so used to spending time with Dov, or sharing banter with Gail. This adventure felt like it was exactly what she needed.

"You need any help?" Frankie asked, suddenly leaning against the refrigerator. What was it with this chick and acting like she owned everywhere?

"Um, soda? I think there's some stuff in the fridge. And shot glasses..." Chloe mostly said to herself, rifling around in cabinets. It wasn't too often she needed to use shot glasses in her apartment.

"I can't help you there," Frankie chuckled at Chloe looking lost in her own place. "I got the soda though."

XXX

"How's Holly?" Andy asked, pulling Gail's attention away from her phone yet again.

"Good," Gail smiled. "It's almost bed time for her though," she said with an sad expression.

"It is _way_ past bed time for us," Andy laughed. She peeked over into the kitchen when she heard a giggle coming from the room. Over the wall she could only see part of the scuffle, but Frankie definitely had Chloe around the waist while the small girl tried to juggle shot glasses. "Do you think she likes her?" she asked Gail, nodding toward the kitchen.

"Which one?" Gail asked genuinely, peeking just in time to see the scuffle come to an end.

"Frankie. Do you think she likes Chloe or just wants to sleep with ladies?"

"Is 'all of the above' an option?" Gail asked, putting her phone away.

Andy shrugged.

"I mean, yeah, she obviously wants to sleep with ladies but she seems different with Chloe. Happier," she noted, quieting as the girls approached. "I have an idea," Gail said mostly to Andy with a wicked grin on her face. "Let's play 'I Never."

"I know this ended up being a sleepover but holy high school, Gail," Frankie laughed, sitting on the floor cross-legged after depositing the alcohol on the coffee table.

"You scared, Anderson?" Gail challenged. "We all already know that Chloe's gonna lose anyway."

"Hey!" Chloe said, offended. "You don't _know_ me," she added in a rough accent, laughing at herself.

"On second thought it might be a good idea," Frankie grinned at the drunken muppet.

"Oooh ooh I'm going first!" Chloe slapped the table excitedly as she poured the first round of shots. The other three looked at her in slightly nervous anticipation. "I never...kissed a girl!"

Gail and Frankie exchanged irritated looks. She got them and she knew it. If they were playing dirty then game on. They took their shots and glared at Chloe.

"I never had sex in a bathroom stall," Gail shot back quickly at Chloe, surprised to find that she was the only one who didn't drink. "Damn, you dirty whores..."

"Alright. This whole shot glass thing isn't working out. If I have to pour them every time someone asks a question we'll be here all night," Chloe blew the hair out of her face and took a swig from the bottle, causing all three ladies to laugh.

It was Andy's turn. "I never slept with someone I worked with."

"Um..."

"You married one."

"Does that mean you're not sleeping with him? Because really, what's the point?" Chloe asked, lost.

"You guys are idiots. I just wanted us all to drink," Andy grinned.

The game went on for almost an hour before the girls began to get tired and lose their luster. Andy was curled up the the corner of the couch, awake but cozy. Frankie and Chloe were on the floor leaning against the couch, Frankie's arm lightly draped behind the muppet. It had been that way for a while. Sleepy Chloe seemed like she was almost leaning in to the embrace. Gail wondered if it was the alcohol, the hour of the night or both. Or something else entirely.

"I never had a crush on a straight girl," Gail said suddenly, smiling at Frankie and the half-lidded Chloe. Frankie only glared for a moment.

"You lie," Frankie laughed.

"No, really. I mean, I didn't realise I liked women until Holly but no, never a straight girl," she shrugged honestly.

"Bitch," Frankie muttered, taking one last swig. Gail just grinned.

"Bed time," Chloe said quietly, her voice thick with sleep.

"I'm good right here," Andy said without opening her eyes.

"Me too," Gail nodded, opening the foot of the recliner. She looked at Frankie for a bit too long, trying not to smirk.

"Come on," Chloe said, patting Frankie's arm as she slowly rose to her feet. She reached out for the girl's hand and dragged her up as well, leading them back into the hallway without even a hint of awkwardness. Gail chuckled to herself. She knew they were just going to sleep but Chloe's comfort level with the usually rough detective still astounded her.

XXX

"What. The. _Hell_?!" Gail answered the phone like a bitch on a mission. She had ignored the first three calls. Four calls. Five calls. On call six she picked up her phone to find five missed calls and eleven texts from Dov. Her irritated tone caused Andy to stir on the couch across the room.

"Where are you?" Dov spat out quickly, sounding more than exasperated.

"What the fuck, Dad? Mind your business!" Gail practically yelled. And she had been sleeping so well...

"Where's Chloe?"

"Oh my God, seriously? Did you blow up _her_ phone too?"

"It's going straight to voicemail. I can't tell if it's off or if she's dodging my calls," he told her.

"It died last night. She probably forgot to plug it in," Gail grumbled. "I'm hanging up now."

"No wait! Do you know where she is? Is she safe?" he asked in a rush.

"Unless she asphyxiated on her own vomit, she's fine. Though after last night that _is_ a real possibility."

"That's not funny, Gail," he said sternly.

"Dov! She's fine. And I'm actually glad her phone's off because if she would have woken up to six calls and eleven texts from you-"

"What, Gail? What would she have done?" he snapped.

"Hopefully dumped your sorry ass."

XXX

Gail and Andy had finished nearly an entire pot of coffee and three episodes of "Golden Girls" before they heard Chloe's bedroom door open. For a moment Gail considered going to brew a fresh pot for them but then she remembered who she was. Chloe shuffled out in her strawberry slippers with Frankie right behind her, both looking better than they felt. Frankie folded herself into the corner of the couch opposite Andy while Chloe went to the kitchen, making more coffee without question.

Gail thought about Dov. She was about to tell Chloe that she might want to plug in her phone before she decided that she didn't want to ruin the girl's morning quite yet. Maybe she really was growing as a person.

Seven minutes later Chloe joined them in the living room with two mugs of coffee. She handed one to Frankie, who instinctively shifted on the couch so that the girl could sit down next to her. Andy eyed them out of her periphery and Gail watched as a small smirk appeared.

"Ooh, 'Golden Girls'," Chloe said sleepily, lying her head back onto the couch as they continued to watch. "You guys sleep okay?" she asked, hoping her meager living room furniture was sufficient.

" _So_ well," Andy told her honestly.

"Me too," Gail nodded.

"Good," Chloe smiled, relaxed.

"Um, Chloe?" Gail said and Chloe could hear the concern in her voice. She suddenly had her full attention. "I woke up to about seventeen million texts and calls from your douchey boyfriend. You might want to call him," Gail said apologetically.

"Ughhhh, I forgot my phone was dead," Chloe grumbled, running her hand through her hair in frustration. "Did you tell him we were here?"

"No. He was being an ass," Gail shrugged. "I figured him knowing that you were fine was all the information he needed."

"Thanks," Chloe smiled. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Frankie was staring at her face, looking worried. She smiled slightly, resting her hand on the girl's knee for a moment, in her own way trying to tell her that it would be okay. She wouldn't allow herself to be 'in trouble' with Dov for a second time.

XXX


	9. Chapter 9

_Much dialogue here. I hope it's not annoying. Let me know what you think about where this is going. I apologise for these few chapters being a bit boring. That will be changing VERY quickly. Thanks again._

"I just want to say that I am going in to this conversation calm and collected-"

"That makes one of us."

"And if I leave this conversation _anything_ but calm and collected there's going to be an issue," Chloe stated firmly, sitting on the edge of the armchair and looking at Dov seriously.

She had waited until well into the afternoon to go to Dov's apartment. After the ladies left and she finally checked her phone, she was pissed. She couldn't see how many calls she had missed but there were seven voicemails and eighteen texts. It was time to have a conversation whether Dov was prepared for it or not.

"Okay," Dov took a deep breath, rubbing his hands together nervously. "Where were you last night?" he kept his tone light though the question itself held a disdain that Chloe didn't appreciate.

"I went out with my friends," Chloe told him directly.

"Where did you go?"

"To a club, downtown," she sighed, leaning back in the chair, feeling like this might take a while.

"You don't even like clubs..."

"I had a lot of fun. Thank you for asking," she rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry," he stuttered out. "I'm glad you had fun," he amended. "Who did you go with?" Trying to stay calm was not working out so well for him, despite knowing that's what Chloe needed.

"Gail, Andy and Frankie," she told him without hesitation.

"Oh."

"What?" she responded to his tone.

"You didn't even tell me you were going..." he whined. "I was worried about you."

"No you weren't, Dov. You were trying to control me. You called Gail a hundred times this morning because you _needed_ to know where I was. Not because you were worried about me," Chloe shook her head, sitting forward.

"How could you say that? I _was_ worried about you! I woke up and neither you or Gail were here!"

"I haven't been here too much lately."

"I noticed," he grumbled.

"And seeing as Gail and I were _both_ gone, I know you assumed we were together. You knew I was fine, you just couldn't stand that I hadn't checked in with you."

"I'm your boyfriend!" he argued, as though that meant he was entitled to know every move that Chloe made.

"You are. And I am an adult. I can go wherever I want without clearing it with you first!"

"Where'd you stay last night?" he asked as though he hadn't heard a word she said.

"At my apartment, Dov. Where I live," she said, noticing that her leg was shaking from the adrenaline running through her.

"With Gail?!" It was a tone of surprise, not accusation.

"With everybody! If you were so worried about me you should be happy that we stayed safe instead of driving drunk," she scoffed.

"They all stayed at your place?" he asked as though the concept was unbelievable.

"Is it that hard to believe that I actually have friends? That people that aren't you might enjoy being around me?"

"No, that's not it at all," he put up his hands in defense. "You just don't usually do things like that."

"You're right. And I realised that I should," she nodded.

"I want you to have fun, Chloe. It's just, I feel like ever since you started hanging out with Frankie things have changed," he finally admitted.

"Things _have_ changed, Dov, but it has nothing to do with hanging out with Frankie. The more that I do without you the more problems we seem to have. I have _fun_ with Frankie. I do get outside of my comfort zone and you know what? It's been good for me. But you make me feel like I'm not supposed to do anything if it's not with you and that's not okay," Chloe told him, standing and wiping her sweaty hands on her jeans.

"So what do we do?" he asked sadly.

"You get used to the fact that I might not always call you. I will go out with my friends. My phone might die. And all of that is perfectly fine because this is _my_ life."

He didn't have a response for that.

xxx

"I wish I had your gaydar right about now," Gail laughed, Face-Timing with Holly in the break room on a thankfully quiet shift.

"Honey, by this point you should have grown your own," Holly laughed, sitting in her apartment and smiling at the colour of Gail's eyes.

"Usually I'm not bad, but this whole thing is throwing me for a loop," she chuckled, looking around the room. "You should see them together. They act like a couple and it's like Chloe doesn't even know it."

"Some people may have said the same thing about us," Holly countered.

"Exactly! Because I was a dumb, allegedly-straight girl! At least I figured my shit out," Gail smiled. Face-Time was nothing compared to looking at Holly in person but she would definitely take what she could get.

"Maybe Chloe will too. Or maybe she's a dumb, _actually_ straight girl," Holly suggested, causing Gail to laugh again.

"Hi Holly!" Chloe said, suddenly behind Gail but obviously unaware of the conversation that was taking place.

"Hi 'Muppet!' " Holly waved with finger quotes.

"Hey!" Chloe sat down in the seat next to Gail and glared at her. "You're going to spread the muppet thing the whole way across the continent?!"

"Naw, I was just telling Lunchbox here about you and Frankie," Gail smirked. Holly looked surprised all the way from San Francisco.

Chloe cocked her head to the side and glared again. "I'm allowed to have friends, Gail..."

"Yes you are. And so am I, but-"

"Gail..." Holly raised an eyebrow and chided Gail the same way she would have when they were together.

"Come on, Lunchbox! I'm just having fun," Gail whined.

"Gail, if I were gay, you'd know it. I would have stolen your lunchbox _years_ ago."

xxx

"What am I doing wrong, man?" Dov asked, sullen, as he fell onto the couch across from Chris.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Chris chuckled, turning away from the Xbox to give his full attention to his friend.

"Yes! I'm really _trying_ here and it's like Chloe doesn't even notice."

"What exactly are you trying for?" Chris asked. He had to admit that from his end he didn't see a lot of 'trying.' From either of them.

"To keep her!"

"Honestly, man, I kind of think that's the problem. You're trying so hard to 'keep' her that you're trying to keep her in your sights twenty-four seven," he told his friend.

"All of this is just so unlike her, you know? She never used to go out without me. She always-"

"Sat here and waited for you, and did whatever _you_ felt like doing?" Chris interjected, earning a disgusted look from Dov.

"That's what Chloe said," he admitted. "I just don't know what I'm supposed to do to make her happy."

"She already told you what she needed, Dov. She wants to go out. She wants to be free to hang out with her friends without feeling like she has to answer to you. All you gotta do is listen to her."

"What if letting her do what she wants pushes her further away? What if she meets someone else?"

Chris refrained from saying that it kind of seemed like she already had.

XXX

"Gail, we have to talk," Chris said sternly, walking straight into Gail's room and standing at the bed.

"Whoa, buddy. You wanna try that again?" she asked, looking up at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Sorry," Chris said sheepishly. "I guess I kind of need your advice," he rephrased.

"Well _that's_ never good," she chuckled, patting the bed. "Have a seat."

"Dov came to me today, about Chloe," he said flatly.

"And?" Gail was confused as to how that turned into Chris needing her advice.

"And I didn't know what to tell him. He wanted me to tell him what he was doing wrong, and I did, but I feel like there's more to it than that," Chris explained.

"He's trying to smother her and she doesn't like it. It's really quite simple," she shrugged, setting her phone down and giving Chris her attention.

"I told him that. But I kind of feel like he's fighting a losing battle, you know?"

"No, I don't know," Gail lied.

"Like, I kind of feel like he's gonna lose her no matter what he does. I couldn't tell him that, though," he told her.

"Honestly they haven't really seemed that happy in a while. Maybe their time is just up, or whatever," she suggested casually.

"But what about..." he started, unsure how to finish the sentence. "It seems like maybe Frankie is involved?" he phrased as a question.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Gail told him sharply.

"Gail, I've known you for a lot of years. Hell, we used to date. I know when you're lying," he called her out without hesitation.

"I'm not lying!" she squeaked.

"Gail... What do you know?" he warned.

"I don't know anything! I mean, I know what you're talking about but I don't actually _know_ anything, you know?"

"No."

"Like, I see why you might think that. That's all," she put her hands up.

"Don't you think they got close pretty quick? Frankie's not even that nice," Chris noted.

"She is with Chloe," Gail said before she could stop herself.

"What do you mean?" Chris asked. Now he was intrigued.

"Nothing. She's just, like, better now," she told him reluctantly, eye roll and all.

"So she likes her?"

"I don't know!" Gail was so done with the interrogation.

"Does Chloe like her back?"

"Chris, Chloe is like a freaking Golden Retriever; she likes everyone," she told him.

"You know what I mean, Gail."

"I honestly don't know, okay? What I do know is that Chloe and Dov having problems has _nothing_ to do with Frankie," she told him honestly.

"I'm not saying Dov's in the right with all this. It just sucks that he's getting hurt if he doesn't actually have a chance of fixing it, no matter what the reason."

"I know," Gail nodded somberly. "Chloe told him what she needs. Now we just have to wait and see if he listens."


	10. Chapter 10

_This is just a short, one-scene chapter. I actually got this scene in my sleep and I couldn't let it go unwritten. I apologise, it's rather dramatic. Thanks for reading. I hope you're still enjoying the tilt-a-whirl._

"You are such a dork!" Frankie laughed, leaning over Chloe, who was sitting on her desk, as the girl showed her the very poor quality cartoons that she was making based on the people of Fifteen.

"You love it," Chloe grinned, holding her phone up and forcing Frankie to look through more of the slides. When they got to the drawing of Gail, Frankie burst out laughing.

"Look at her little pissy eyes!" she exclaimed, resting her hand on Chloe's shoulder. "That's amazing!"

"I try," Chloe chuckled, glancing down at Frankie and grinning. "What until we get to Oliver..."

"Price," Gail said hesitantly, approaching Frankie's desk.

"What's up, Gail?" Chloe asked softly, handing her phone over to Frankie and acknowledging the blond woman.

"Can I talk to you for a sec?" Gail asked. Chloe wondered why she seemed uncomfortable.

"Sure," Chloe said, smiling at Frankie subtly as she slid off the desk, over Frankie and toward Gail. "What's up? You're making me nervous," she told her friend, only slightly kidding.

"Naw, it's no big deal," Gail assured her, leading her into the hall and then into one of the empty interrogation rooms.

"Am I under arrest?" Chloe joked, hopping up on to the table naturally.

"You've probably never done anything you could get arrested for," Gail countered. Chloe shrugged. "No, um..." she didn't know how to preface this conversation and she knew she didn't just want to jump right in, either. "I'm not usually one to get in other people's business-"

"Yes you are."

"Mostly because I usually just don't really give a shit about other people or their business, but I guess I'm, uh, I'm kinda worried about you..." Gail trailed off, embarrassed.

"Worried about me? Gail I didn't know you had it in you," Chloe laughed though her heart rate began to pick up. Her friend had her undivided attention.

"Well see, I guess Dov talked to Chris, and then Chris talked to me, and I just wanted to make sure everything was okay with you," she lied. Honestly, Chloe seemed great. Better than she had been for probably as long as Gail had known her.

Gail had spent days mulling over the idea of actually talking to Chloe about this 'situation' and she decided that it was the right thing to do. She would be calm and casual and just give Chloe the opportunity to see things from the other's perspective. Gail wasn't a hundred percent sure that it was a good idea.

"Why wouldn't everything be okay with me?" Chloe asked honestly.

"I guess just with you and Dov. He asked Chris what he was doing wrong. He gets that you want to be free to do whatever you want, I just don't think he's handling it that well."

"That's obvious."

"Are there other problems? I mean, besides just him kind of smothering you?" Gail asked, internally rolling her eyes at herself.

"See, Gail? Those mandatory therapy sessions are really working out for you," Chloe joked, earning an _actual_ eye roll.

"What's going on with Frankie?" Gail spat out abruptly. Subtlety had _never_ been her strong suit. She had beat around the bush for as long as she could.

"Wow..." Chloe said, nearly inaudibly, looking at her folded hands in her lap. To say she was caught off guard would have been an understatement.

"I'm sorry that I had to ask like that. I just... I don't get it. Oh God, I turned into you," Gail said, exasperated, realising that Chloe had spoken the same words to her, regarding Frankie, just a few months ago.

"What don't you get?" Chloe asked, looking up for a moment before her eyes began to scan the room nervously.

"So, you guys are friends, right? And that's great. But..."

"But what, Gail?" Chloe snapped.

"It seems like you're more."

Chloe was silent. Despite that fact that this 'friendship' with Frankie had been going on for months, no one had ever had the nerve to call her out about it before. If Chloe was being honest with herself, she had wondered on sleepless nights what she would say if anyone ever _did_ bring it up. Anything she had formulated at the time was out the window now.

"Gail, I..." Chloe choked out quietly. "This is nothing. There's nothing to worry about and it's not a big deal and I don't want to talk about it."

"Remember how you made me talk when I didn't want to? You knew I needed to even though I didn't," Gail's own sincereity was going to make her throw up soon.

"We're at work, Gail."

"And it's the end of the day."

"And I was just out there, in a really good mood, and now you spring this on me?!" Chloe was still quiet but her defenses were going up fast.

"I wasn't trying to spring anything on you. I think... I think I just wanted to know if _you_ knew what this thing was. If I'm seeing things... If we are all seeing things then that's fine. And if we're not-"

"Why are you doing this?" Tears were forming behind Chloe's eyes despite her desperate efforts to keep them at bay. "Is this just like karma, or something? I stuck my nose into your business and now I'm getting to see what it's like?"

"Chloe... I'm so sorry. I really didn't mean to upset you," Gail shook her head, unable to handle the fact that she'd hurt her friend. "Honestly I thought that maybe you'd _want_ to talk about it."

"I _would_ want to talk about it!" Chloe said loudly. " _If_ I knew what it was!"

Gail nodded solemnly. She understood that feeling all too well. She thought back to after Frank and Noelle's wedding, right after Holly had kissed her. Gail would have loved to have someone to tell about everything that she was feeling but she had no idea at all what it was.

"Do you care about her?" Gail asked quietly. "Like, romantically or whatever."

Chloe shrugged instantly but the answer was apparent. "But I don't know what that means."

"It doesn't have to mean anything. I think you're thinking too hard about this."

"Like you didn't!" Chloe accurately accused.

"I definitely did. It turned out that Holly was worth whatever I was afraid of, whatever questions I couldn't answer about myself," Gail smiled to herself, despite the tears in her friends eyes. "If that's the kind of situation that you're dealing with, Chloe it is _SO_ worth it."

"I don't know what kind of situation I'm dealing with, Gail. And it really doesn't matter anyway."

"Why not?"

"This is just who Frankie is, you know? She flirts with girls, she's touchy and gets attached even though she's not _actually_ attached. This is nothing to her," Chloe told her, allowing a tear to roll down her cheek.

"I think you're wrong."

"Ha," Chloe scoffed. "You know her, Gail."

"I do know her," Gail nodded confidently. "That's exactly why I think you're wrong. She's different now, Chloe. You see it too. She's happier, kinder. Frankie never seemed to give a damn about _anything_ until you came into her life."

Chloe took in Gail's words but shook her head, unable to believe it. "That had nothing to do with me," she said sadly.

"I think it had _everything_ to do with you. Like you said, Frankie flirts with girls. She _sleeps_ with girls. She loves to play the game. If whatever this is with you wasn't real to her she would have already been gone. I think you know that," Gail told her, harsh but true.

Chloe shrugged, knowing Gail was right about that part. Frankie wasn't generally friends with women. Not actually friends, anyway.

"I think you should talk to her, Chloe," Gail said, looking into Chloe's teary eyes carefully.

"No, Gail. I think you see what you want to see. And I think you're wrong," Chloe was crying freely now, defensive. Her fears were pouring out of her and Gail couldn't do anything to help her. Chloe hopped off the table and headed toward the door.

"She cares about you," Gail called after her. Chloe turned and looked at her for a moment before roughtly wiping the tears from her cheeks and leaving the interrogation room. How appropriate.

"Hey Mupp-"

Chloe practically ran directly into Frankie as she entered the hallway. Evidently her friend had come looking for her at nearly that exact moment. It only took Frankie a millisecond of seeing Chloe's face (which was rushing past her) to notice that she was crying.

"Chloe wait up," Frankie said seriously, turning quickly and grabbing Chloe's arm. A crying Muppet was something that the detective could not handle.

"I gotta go," Chloe spat, trying to get past Frankie again.

"No, na no no no," Frankie told her, shaking her head and putting her arm in front of Chloe's torso, stopping her. "Come talk to me a minute," she said softly, watching as Chloe began to cry harder.

Frankie led Chloe gently back to the now empty office, shutting the door behind them. She sat Chloe down in a desk chair and wheeled herself over, wrapping an arm around the girl instinctively. Being so near to Frankie only made Chloe give in, hiding her face in the nook between Frankie's neck and shoulder, crying freely, finally feeling the fears that had been building within her.

"Did Gail do something, Chlo? Was she rude to you? What did she do?"

Chloe chuckled mid-cry at the idea that Frankie thought her tears just had to be because Gail was a bitch.

"She didn't do anything wrong," Chloe said quietly, picking her head up and wiping her face roughly with the balls of her hands.

"Hey," Frankie moved Chloe's hand away and held it, reaching up and gently wiping her tears.

Chloe's eyes closed immediately at the soft sensation. It was all of these little, sweet, more-than-friendly moments that had built up and lead to her confusion in the first place.

"What'd she say, Chlo?" Frankie asked softly, putting her finger under Chloe's chin and forcing the girl to look into her eyes.

"She really didn't do anything wrong. She was worried about me. She was being a good friend," Chloe told her as her tears subsided.

"Why was she worried, Muppet? Are you okay?" Frankie asked so sincerely that it gave Chloe chills.

Chloe nodded. "I'm just kind of afraid," she admitted, her voice shaking.

"Afraid of what?"

"This," Chloe said, motioning between them.

Frankie stared, silent. Both racing heartbeats could be heard in the still room. After a moment, Frankie opened her mouth as though she was going to speak only to close it again a second later. Her wide eyes emitted nothing but fear. She felt like she had finally gotten caught.

"Um..." Frankie squeaked out, terrified and unable to formulate anything but a foggy thought.

Chloe pulled away from her quickly, back to roughly wiping the tears away from her face, and stood, heartbroken.

Anything.

Frankie could have said _anything_ and Chloe would have felt better. Positive or negative, this situation between them just needed to be _acknowledged._ Frankie couldn't even do that.

Everything the Chloe had said to Gail came flooding back to her. Frankie flirts with girls. Frankie sleeps with girls. Frankie plays the game. As Chloe ran out of the room, the memory of Gail calling ' _She cares about you'_ followed with her. The tears had never flowed more freely.


	11. Chapter 11

_Chapter Eleven. 'This lesbian shit is intense.' Truer words were never spoken. Thanks for all your support. I hope you enjoy. As I've been going back and reading through past chapters I'm findings typos that annoy me. I'm trying to correct that. Anyway, let me know what you think. I know this thing is escalating but I warned that it was a rollercoaster. Thanks again._

Beer. Just one or two. Just to de-stress after the emotional events of the day. Making Chloe cry had a bigger impact on her than Gail would have liked. She kept picturing the scared, confused girl and her heart ached. Gail decided that she absolutely hated being a _good person_ who had _real friends._ Caring sucked.

The Penny was nearly empty (not quite five o'clock pm on a Tuesday will do that) and Gail was glad to see it. She pulled a stool up to the bar, ordered her usual micro-brew and sighed. Getting caught up in other people's drama was not something that Gail was used to. She didn't regret broaching the subject with Chloe; she knew that it was necessary even if it was temporarily painful, she just hoped that it was the shortest kind of temporary, for Chloe's sake.

In the four years that Gail had known Chloe, she had never seen the bright, sunny girl so broken up. Her pain was evident, had been emanating from her in the interrogation room. That was not something Gail ever expected from the girl. Chloe had gotten broken up with, divorced, shot and stuck in a burning building but Gail had never seen her as scared or upset as she had today.

"I think your friend's here," Louie, the old bartender said casually, setting down her beer and tearing her from her thoughts. He motioned down the bar and Gail followed with her eyes.

At the end of the bar, alone, sat Frankie, staring into a glass and seeming smaller than Gail had ever seen her. Obviously engaged in her thoughts, it seemed as though Frankie didn't realise that anyone, let alone Gail, was even in the room with her.

Gail resisted the urge to say, 'Oh, she's not my friend,' to Louie and opted for a simple, "Thanks," instead. She looked down the bar for a moment in an attempt to assess the situation. Three empty glasses in the area of the bar around Frankie. A nearly empty glass in front of her, her hand around it. Her eyes cast downward, into the glass, staring off blankly. Whatever the circumstances, they weren't good.

Gail sighed heavily to herself. She had come to the bar to momentarily forget about the drama of others. It would be so easy to sip her beer and pretend that Frankie wasn't even there; the woman certainly wouldn't be seeking _her_ out anytime soon. She could finish her beer, buy a six pack and slink away and Frankie would be none the wiser.

But that would be wrong.

Damn caring.

"What's up, Anderson?" Gail asked casually as she and her beer made their way to the seat next to Frankie.

"Oh," Frankie sighed out, nodding slightly at Gail.

"Now _that_ is a warm welcome," Gail chuckled, seeing something beyond irritation in Frankie's eyes.

"Sorry," Frankie said blankly.

"Seriously, what's wrong, man?" Gail was beginning to get genuinely concerned. The last time she had seen Frankie today, she and Chloe were happily sitting at her desk, smiling, laughing and touching as usual.

"Mind your fucking business, Peck! Haven't you gotten it through your head yet?!" Frankie turned like a rabid animal. Her voice was quiet but held enough malice to frighten Gail a little.

"Frankie, you and I used to sleep together," Gail said flatly, not letting Frankie's defenses get to her.

"I know, Gail. I was there."

"We may have never really liked each other that much, but I still know you," she told her, gaining an eye roll and the final swig of her drink in response.

"Yeah, right," Frankie spat.

"I know that you're hurting right now. I don't know _why_ you're hurting. But you get extra mean when you're hurt, not when you're actually angry," Gail told her.

"What was that I said about minding your fucking business?" Frankie said facetiously, most of the venom gone from her voice. She raised her hand, signaling for another drink.

"So what happened? Last time I saw you everything seemed good."

"Nothing is ever good, Gail. You of all people should know that," Frankie told her, gulping her fresh Long Island.

Gail was contemplative for a moment. This was bigger than she knew. Possibly bigger than she could handle. She wanted to get more information from the detective but knew that it wouldn't be easy. Such a dramatic change in her demeanor in less than an hour could only mean one thing: Chloe.

"Did something happen with Chloe?" Gail asked softly, knowing it would be the absolute wrong question to ask, one way or another.

"Yeah. You made her cry," Frankie said sternly, not bothering to look away from her drink.

"I didn't-" Gail sighed loudly. "I didn't _make_ her cry, Frankie. I didn't mean to..."

"I know," Frankie nodded. "I was ready to whoop your ass but she swore it wasn't your fault. Said you were being a 'good friend'," she added with finger quotes. She downed the rest of her drink and shook her head, hard, eyes watering. "I fucked up, Peck," she said, so quietly that Gail barely made it out.

"How?" she asked, equally quietly.

"She..." Frankie swallowed hard, shaking her head and squeezing her eyes shut, motioning for another drink. "She was so sad, you know? And like, scared. And she actually admitted it and I just...froze."

Gail knew fully well that she ultimately had no idea what had transpired between Frankie and Chloe. Evidently they had seen each other after Gail spoke with Chloe, though. Had Chloe admitted that she was afraid of whatever it was to Frankie as well? That's what Gail understood but Frankie was getting more and more intoxicated and she didn't know what to assume anymore.

"What do you mean, you froze?"

"I couldn't... I couldn't say anything. I couldn't react. She just, like, she threw me for a loop or whatever. I... I didn't think-" Frankie stopped, looking to the ceiling for a moment. Gail followed her gaze but couldn't seem to find what had caught the woman's attention. She waited. "I didn't think she'd bring it up. Maybe ever." Frankie finally admitted. "And then she did. And I wasn't prepared. And I didn't know what to do. So I didn't do anything."

"What did you say to her?"

"Nothing. Not a goddamn word. I tried. Nothing came out. And she got so upset. And then _she_ didn't say anything. And she cried harder and she just ran away," Frankie chugged some more liquor and rested her head onto the bar.

What the hell had Gail gotten herself into?

xxx

Normally in this situation, one person would comfort the other; put an arm around them, offer a hug, anything to show their support for a sad friend. But Gail and Frankie were not 'normal' in any situation. Gail was at a loss.

The moment was (happily) interrupted by the sound of The Penny's door opening, two familiar police officers entering the bar. Their eyes immediately went to Gail and Frankie (not that they would have known Frankie, as her forehead was still flat on the bar top) and they approached.

"Hey, we know you," one officer said cordially, walking up with his buddy. "Fifteen, right?"

"Loud and proud," Gail said dryly. She wasn't a fan of small talk as it was, particularly not in this situation. Frankie hadn't even lifted her head yet.

"Yeah, that's what I hear," the other officer chuckled.

"Witty," Gail rolled her eyes. "Twenty seven, I assume?" she asked, knowing the attitude and reputation of the division.

"'Loud and proud'," one of them mocked. "We sent you guys Price a few years back."

Gail noticed that Frankie lifted her head slightly at the mere mention of the girl's name.

"You did. That was a good trade," Gail told them honestly.

"Yeah right," the second officer scoffed. "We were _trying_ to give her away."

"To whoever was stupid enough to take her," the other officer added.

Frankie was sitting straight up at this point, her back still to the officers. Gail tensed at the energy she was emitting alone.

"We're just glad the dumb bitch waited until she was at Fifteen to get shot in the neck."

Before Gail could blink, before the sentence was fully out of the officer's mouth, Frankie was on her feet, in his face, hand around his throat.

"What the fuck did you just say?!" she growled, her intoxication no match for her anger.

"Whoa, Jimmy, we got a live one here," the officer who wasn't being accosted chuckled at the skinny girl wrangling his partner.

"Don't touch me, bitch," the officer spat, smacking Frankie's hand away from him with ease.

"You need to watch what you say and get the fuck out of here," Frankie told him, backing him up with each word she spoke. She may have been skinny but she was scary when she was mad.

"Frankie..." Gail said quietly, knowing that no matter what she said Drunk Frankie was in no mood for rationality.

"Price is a good cop. And she's a good person. The fact that her name even came out of your mouth disgusts me," Frankie said, pushing him hard in the chest and causing him to stumble backward.

"Jesus Christ, lady! Calm the fuck down," the officer said, straightening his shirt and looking around, embarrassed. He may have been an asshole but he knew not to hit a woman. Right now he wished he didn't have those morals.

Frankie groaned loudly as a searing pain shot through her skull, her eyes beginning to water.

"Just watch your fucking mouth," she said, much more quietly but still with hatred.

The two officers made their way to a table, mumbling about 'Crazy bitches from Fifteen' as they wandered away.

"Assholes!" Frankie grunted, punching the bar top way too hard.

"Anderson, calm down," Gail said, trying to think of ways to diffuse the situation. "I didn't know you knew about Chloe getting shot," she added calmly, hoping to distract the fuming woman.

"Scar," Frankie said quietly, running her finger across her own neck, exactly where the scar fell on Chloe. She dazed out for a moment before snapping back, punching the bar again, just as hard.

"Detective, you're going to need to either calm down or leave," Louie said softly. He had watched the exchange between the two divisions and was going to let it go but he couldn't have anyone damaging his property.

"Yeah, Frankie. We should get out of here," Gail said, watching as Frankie's knuckles swelled, although the detective didn't seem to notice.

"No. I'm finishing my drink," Frankie shot, picking up her almost full (and seventh) drink.

"Frankie-"

"I _said_ I'm finishing my drink, Peck. You wanna go, go. You're not my fucking babysitter."

"I can't leave you here like this," Gail reasoned stupidly.

"I got here myself, I'll leave myself. When I want," Frankie told her, back to staring at her drink, her leg shaking uncontrollably.

"You fucked up your hand..."

"Fuck my hand!" Frankie yelled, punching the bar top again.

"Alright, we're going," Gail said, tossing a few bills onto the bar and standing, putting her hands on Frankie's shoulders in an attempt to guide her.

"Don't touch me, Peck!" Frankie spun around, losing control as her head reeled.

Gail closed her eyes and sighed deeply. This wasn't something that she knew how to control, at least not from Frankie. 'What would Chloe do?' she thought to herself. Chloe was the only person that could handle Frankie. Gail bit her lip, annoyed with herself. She intentionally calmed and turned back to Frankie.

"Alright, I'm going to go to the bathroom. Give you a few minutes alone to chill out, okay?" Gail told her, watching as Frankie stared off and drank some more.

"Whatever," Frankie grumbled.

Gail made eye contact with Louie, silently saying 'Watch her', and he nodded in response. She walked to the back hallway, phone already in hand. She hated herself for doing this. Not as much as Frankie would hate her, but she could live with it. She didn't have any other choice.

Chloe's phone rang five times and then went to voicemail. Of course. If Frankie was in this state Gail couldn't imagine what Chloe was going through. She dialed again. Five rings. Voicemail.

"You need to text or call me right away. I'm at the Penny and Frankie is a mess. Literally. And I think she has broken knuckles." - Gail texted directly. She imagined Chloe getting that text and freaking out but that was something that she'd have to worry about later.

She dialed again.

"Gail", Chloe answered on the first ring, obviously having read the text.

"I'm sorry to do this to you, I just don't know what else to do," Gail said, exasperated.

"Take her to the hospital," Chloe said plainly.

"I can't _take_ her anywhere, Chloe. She's like a rabid fucking elephant!"

"I can't help you, Gail."

"What do you mean, Chloe? What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Look, if she's that upset, me showing up is only gonna make it worse. You know that," Chloe told her sadly.

"No, I don't know that. She _needs_ you, Chloe. She fucked up with you today. She told me she did-"

"She did?" the girl interrupted, surprised.

"Yeah, and she almost choked out a guy from Twenty Seven for talking shit on you." Gail heard Chloe chuckle through the line. "No, Price. I mean she had her hand around his throat, almost choked him out. It wasn't an expression. I need you here."

"Shit..." Chloe trailed off, no longer finding it funny. The line was silent for a moment as she took it all in. "I'll be there soon."


	12. Chapter 12

_Here we go, Chapter 12. There's a little Holly in this one, more to come. I feel a little sorry for Dov, but not that sorry. Thanks for all your support. Let me know what you think._

"Let me guess, Miss Chloe here to save the day," Louie smiled sweetly as he saw her walk in the door.

Chloe smiled a stressed smile back at him, already looking to Gail and Frankie down the bar. "Hi Louie. How bad is it?" she asked, unable to take her eyes off of the girl who was yet to see her.

"I'd say it's pretty bad," he admitted. "But I've seen worse."

She approached slowly, not wanting to spring her presence on Frankie and inadvertantly push her further away. Gail looked up first, attempting to nod at Chloe subtly. Frankie was looking down; Chloe wasn't sure if she was looking at her own injured hand or at the ground beneath her.

"Hey," Chloe said softly as Gail stepped away, allowing Chloe to get nearer to Frankie.

Frankie looked up slowly, knowing the girl's voice all too well but also knowing that her mind was playing tricks on her in this state of intoxication. When she met the all-too-familiar eyes that were staring back at her, she panicked.

"What the...?"

Frankie narrowed her eyes and immediately turned them to Gail. She was drunk but she wasn't stupid.

"What the fuck, Peck? Are you fucking kidding me right now?! I told you I was fine and then you go behind my back and-"

"Hey!" Chloe said a little too loudly, stepping in front of Frankie and blocking Gail from her view. "Gail didn't do anything wrong. She was trying to protect you."

"Protect me? I don't _need_ protecting, Chloe. I am a grown woman and I-"

"Hey," Chloe said, softly this time, reaching her hand up and pushing a rogue strand of hair behind Frankie's ear. Suddenly she had the girl's full attention. "Let me see your hand," she said, reaching for the injured fist only to have it violently wrenched away from her.

"It's fine!" Frankie snapped, causing Gail to subconsciously take a another step back from them.

"Frankie..." Chloe said, nearly inaudibly, stepping nearer, completely in Frankie's space.

Frankie was back to staring at the ground, a mix of fear and embarrassment surrounding her. Her leg was still shaking and she found herself wishing that she had another drink in front of her.

"Hey..." Chloe ran her hand gently down the girl's shoulder, causing Frankie to slam her eyes shut hard and keep them that way. "Hey, look at me," she said, so close to her ear that Frankie could feel it.

Frankie raised her head slowly, finally looking up into Chloe's huge, concerned eyes. She saw nothing but care coming from them, despite all of the negative things that she expected to see. There was no judgement. No disdain. There was nothing but love. Frankie folded.

"Let's go home, okay? We're going to get you some water and Tylenol and check out that broken hand of yours."

"It's not broken," Frankie argued weakly.

"Oh, I definitely think it's a little broken," Chloe half-smirked, looking down at the swollen monstrosity that was Frankie's right hand.

Frankie smiled.

Gail watched the exchange between the two and actually smiled herself. It took watching this rollercoaster and seeing the calm after the storm for her to fully grasp the magnitude of their situation. Just moments ago Frankie was ready to knock out anyone in her path with no concept of the consequences. Now that Chloe was in her orbit she was a compliant, drunk little puppy.

"Did you pay Louie?" Chloe asked Frankie as she helped her scoot off of the bar stool.

"Gail did," Frankie told her in a muffled, somber mumble.

Chloe looked to Gail and smiled. "I'll get you back," she told her.

"Don't worry about it," Gail nodded.

Chloe wrapped her arm securely around Frankie's waist and lead the woman toward the door carefully. Before they got too far she turned back to Gail.

"Thank you. So much," she said so genuinely that Gail could feel it.

"Let me know how it goes, okay?" Gail asked.

Chloe nodded, pulling Frankie closer to keep her upright.

"Thank you."

xxx

The tree-lined streets passed by calmly as Chloe drove in silence. Her apartment was close enough to the Penny to walk but she figured that Frankie would be in no state for an evening stroll. She was right. Chloe glanced out of the corner of her eye to see Frankie's eyes slowly closing, her head back, looking peaceful now in spite of the day.

"It's okay if you wanna go to sleep," Chloe said softly. They would be at her place in a minute but Frankie obviously needed her rest.

"Chloooooeeee," Frankie whined light-heartedly with a chuckle. "It's only like eight o'clock."

"I think that's like one A.M. in Frankie time," Chloe smirked.

"What does that mean?" Frankie furrowed her brow, genuinely confused.

"It means you're drunk."

Frankie laughed so freely, child-like, that Chloe's heart warmed and she laughed with her, smiling sideways at the girl as they pulled up to her parking spot.

"Stay put," she instructed. "I'll be right there."

Frankie rolled her eyes at Chloe's protectiveness only to earn a repeat of the searing brain pain from earlier. She closed her eyes and cursed herself. Chloe opened the passenger side door as Frankie tried to prove her wellness, attempting to get out of the car with her seat belt still firmly in place.

"Damn thing..." Frankie mumbled, pushing the button and releasing herself from captivity.

"Yeah, the seat belt was totally the problem there," Chloe laughed, getting a poorly aimed arm slap in response. "We're getting you water and Tylenol and you're going to bed," she said sternly.

"Why can't I have a beer?" Frankie asked and Chloe's head whipped around in shock. "I'm kidding!" she laughed loudly, leaning on Chloe as they entered the apartment building. "It's a good thing we're off tomorrow, Muppet," she added, as though it had just occurred to her.

"You're telling me..."

XXX

"I'm starting to feel like you should write a lesbian Lifetime movie," Holly chuckled over Face-Time as Gail filled her in on the newest drama.

"Silly Lunchbox... There are no lesbians on Lifetime," Gail smiled.

"So are they together or not?"

"Oh God..." Gail groaned, leaning her head back on the couch and sipping a beer that she actually had a chance to enjoy. "I wish they'd fuck and get it over with, honestly."

"But then what would you have to write about?" Holly joked.

"Chloe did kind of freak me out today, Holls. I've never seen her so scared. She was like, shaking."

"But she was better when she came to pick up Frankie?"

"I think only because she had to be. They're both better when they're around each other. Frankie better get her shit together soon, though. That's all I know," she said.

"Do you think she will?" Holly asked honestly. She did not know this Frankie person but she had always appreciated sweet Chloe.

"I think for Chloe she actually might."

The door to the apartment opened and Dov walked in, looking tired and weary. Gail looked to the door and then back to her phone screen quickly, silently telling Holly that there was about to be an abrupt subject change. Of course Holly understood the message.

"So about that T.O. visit..." Gail wagged her eyebrows, earning a loud laugh from Holly.

"I did mention something about that, didn't I?" Holly looked inquisitive.

"I think you might have, yeah..."

XXX

"Sit," Chloe instructed, pushing Frankie by both shoulders and depositing her on the extremely comfortable couch. To Frankie it was even more comfortable than usual right now.

"Ahhhh..." Frankie practically drooled, lying her head back and reveling in the comfort.

"Nope. Not yet, Cranky. You have some water and pills coming your way first," Chloe shook her head, pulling her upright by her good hand.

"You are such a party pooper, Price," Frankie said. "Party. Pooper. Price."

So Frankie definitely still had the booze running through her veins.

"I'd say don't move but I don't really think you're getting too far right now," Chloe said, turning to the kitchen.

"Is that a challenge?!" Frankie called out, leaning back into the couch again.

"Absolutely not."

Chloe's phone rang out loudly, startling her as she poured a large glass of water. She hadn't let Gail know that they were back safely yet, distracted by taking care of her drunk friend.

"Is that the Spice Girls?!" she heard Frankie call from the living room. "You fucking muppet..." she laughed before she had even gotten an answer.

Dov's goofy face appeared on Chloe's phone screen, surprising her. She hadn't really attempted to make much contact with him lately. She also knew that if she didn't answer he would call incessantly and anger her further.

"Hello?" She realised she sounded more distant than she intended, her mind obviously elsewhere.

"Hey there," he said happily, glad the girl had answered the phone at all. "How are you?"

"I'm okay," she told him, pulling out the bottle of Tylenol and pouring two into her hand. She peeked over the counter to see Frankie, head back, playing with the strings of the Afghan that was draped over the back of the couch. "Long day," she added.

"Me too," he told her, sitting on his bed and subconsciously trying to overhear Gail's conversation from the living room. "I just wanted to talk to you for a little bit. See if maybe you'd come over tonight?" he asked hopefully, closing his eyes as he awaited a response.

"I can't tonight, Dov. I have a lot going on and it's actually kind of a bad time right now," she said honestly, trying to tuck her phone between her shoulder and ear as she picked up the glass of water and pills.

"Mupppppetttt..." Frankie sighed from the couch, picking her head up enough to look into the kitchen. Only then did she notice that the girl was on the phone. She felt guilty for being loud for only a moment before she forgot what it was that she felt guilty about.

"You just don't want to talk, right?" Dov said, his tone changed upon hearing another voice in the background wherever Chloe was. "You tell me that it's a bad time and then you avoid actually having to talk to me," he guessed.

"No, Dov. It actually _is_ a bad time," she sighed, setting the items back onto the counter. "If I didn't want to talk to you I wouldn't have answered the phone."

"You probably only answered because you knew if you didn't I'd just call back." He knew her so well.

"You know what, Dov? You're right. And that's sad," she told him. "I have things I need to do right now, so I'm going to hang up. I'll talk to you later." She hung up before he had a chance to argue.

Chloe made her way back into the living room, supplies in hand, to find Frankie looking cozy and sleepy. The Afghan that she had been playing with was now draped over her. She smiled at Chloe softly.

"Sorry," Chloe blew the hair out of her eyes as she handed the glass of water to Frankie. "Dov called to be annoying."

"Honestly, Muppet, how do you even put up with him?" Frankie asked, sincerely wondering, swallowing the Tylenol that Chloe handed her.

"He wasn't always this bad," she told her, perching on the couch next to her. "We used to have fun. He only got so territorial recently."

"Since me?" Frankie asked, meeting Chloe's eyes cautiously, slightly worried about what conversation it could possibly initiate.

Chloe looked away, contemplating. She could tell Frankie the truth (yes, absolutely since her) or she could blow it off. She looked back to Frankie, who was still staring at her face, and had her answer.

"Yeah, definitely since you."

Frankie fought the urge to smile at the response.

"Let me see your hand," she decided to change the subject, feeling the blush still lingering on her. Frankie opened her mouth to argue but Chloe wasn't having it. "No. You blew it off at the Penny but now you're going to let me see your hand," she demanded.

Frankie reached out her hand reluctantly. Chloe held it gently, looking closely at the obvious swelling and bruising covering the knuckles. Frankie dazed out, watching her, as she assessed the damage.

"I think you definitely broke something," she said quietly, still softly holding her hand. "I'm going to get you some ice."

Before she could rise from the couch, Frankie had reached up and carefully ran one finger tip across the scar on Chloe's neck. Chloe couldn't help but close her eyes at the contact, which didn't go unnoticed by Frankie. The girl traced the scar again, lingering over it, back and forth, watching as Chloe's breathing became heavier, her eyes remaining closed.

"Does it hurt?" Frankie asked in a whisper.

All Chloe could do was shake her head, knowing words would fail her. Her heart beat had increased greatly. She felt her blood pressure rising, along with her temperature. She tried to remain outwardly calm to no avail.

"The cops at the bar, they said they were glad you waited to get to Fifteen to get shot. Like it was some big joke. I thought about your scar and I got so pissed. I thought about the fact that there was a bullet in there," she said, feeling the scar with a few finger tips now. "I was so mad, Chloe. I could have killed him."

Chloe opened her eyes slowly, seeing Frankie's, full of emotion, looking back at her. The energy between them scared Chloe. The look in Frankie's eyes. The sensation coursing through her from the simple touch on her neck.

"It was probably just because you were so drunk," Chloe said, the words coming out as weak as the sentiment.

"No. It was because I care about you so much."

XXX

"Chloe's really pissing me off," Dov said, more of a complaint than an anger, falling onto the couch next to Gail.

"O...kay?" Gail asked, looking up from the TV, knowing there was about to be more to the story whether she really wanted to hear it or not.

"I called her after I got home, right? And I mean, it's normal for a guy to call his girlfriend after work, isn't it?" he said. "She told me it was a 'bad time' and she had a lot going on."

"And?" Gail didn't understand what the problem was.

"And she was lying! She just didn't want to talk to me. I know it."

"Let me guess? You told her that you thought she was lying?" Gail huffed.

"Of course I did! And I heard someone in the background, wherever she is," he rolled his eyes.

"Dov, she actually _does_ have a lot going on, as hard as that is for you to believe," Gail told him, annoyed with his attitude toward his entire relationship with Chloe at this point. He had become a whiny child.

"How would you know?" he spat, irritating Gail further.

"She's taking care of a friend," she told him plainly.

"'Taking care of a friend'?" he asked as though he didn't believe her for a second.

"Yeah. Frankie got way too drunk at the Penny, assaulted a cop from Twenty Seven and probably broke her hand," Gail told him, hiding the satisfied smirk she felt like expressing at sharing the news. "Though those second two are unrelated."

"She's taking care of _Frankie_?!"

"Yep. She needed a babysitter and you know _I'm_ not exactly the caring type."

Dov rubbed his eyes and rose from the couch, speechless and hurt.

"So yeah, Chloe's actually busy," Gail concluded.

Dov walked into his room and slammed the door. Gail only felt guilty for a second.


	13. Chapter 13

_A short little (sexy? maybe hopefully a little sexy) fluffer for y'all. Hope you don't mind._

The TV flickered softly in the dark as Chloe's eyes heavily blinked themselves awake. The first thing that she noticed was the warmth and energy surrounding her. The second thing she noticed was a neck cramp.

Without lifting her head, Chloe looked up to see Frankie's sleeping face above her, head on the arm of the couch. Chloe's head was resting on her friend's collarbone as the two remained tangled on the couch, Afghan draped over them sloppily. Chloe's heartbeat sped up before her tired mind could fully react.

A heat and energy drew Chloe's attention to her left hand, which was resting softly on the skin of Frankie's stomach. Chloe willed her hand to remain still despite her desire to run her fingers across the smooth skin. She could feel the rise and fall of each breath that Frankie took and her body temperature quickly rose. Her fingertips and palm could feel the warm flesh beneath them, the top of her hand noting the soft material of Frankie's T-shirt. How had her hand managed to seek out the girl's skin in her sleep? Her body was rebelling against her denial-ridden mind. How had they become entangled in the first place?

Falling asleep together wouldn't have surprised Chloe in the least, particularly after the day that they had. But this... This was too much. Chloe blinked hard, too many emotional feelings and physical sensations colliding at once. She couldn't handle the mental overload. And there was no way to get out of it now.

Chloe raised her eyes again to see Frankie's, now wide open, looking back at her. Frankie smiled calmly as their eyes met, putting Chloe slightly more at ease. She didn't panic until she realised that her hand was still under Frankie's shirt, against the skin of her stomach, and that Frankie was now awake to notice.

"Sorry..." Chloe mumbled, looking away shyly as she retracted her hand sheepishly, subconsciously leaning further away from her friend, as much as the confines of the couch would allow.

"Don't be," Frankie told her casually, reaching up to rub her eyes only to groan at the realisation that she had used her injured right hand.

"Careful," Chloe told her, seeing the pain on the woman's face. "Guess it's not any better?"

"It felt great while I was sleeping," Frankie grinned.

"We're going to get it x-rayed tomorrow," Chloe decided.

"It'll be okay, Muppet," Frankie told her, unintentionally pulling Chloe closer to her.

"You should go back to sleep. You can take my bed," Chloe said, sitting up carefully as she was half under and half on top of her friend, smashed between the back of the couch and Frankie's warm body.

"You need to go back to sleep too, Chlo. It's three in the morning," Frankie reminded her, sitting up as well, their legs still entwined.

"I can stay out here," Chloe said, suddenly acting as nervous as she felt.

"Why would you do that?" Frankie asked seriously, not understanding Chloe's distance.

"You had a tough day. You deserve the bed," she said flatly, standing and rolling the Afghan up in an attempt to distract herself.

"Stop being weird," Frankie said directly, smirking when Chloe finally met her eyes again.

Frankie reached out her good hand and Chloe instinctively took it. She pulled her arm gently, weakly. 'Sharing the bed, it is,' Chloe thought.

XXX

An ocean of space remained between them as they each lie on one side of Chloe's modest full size mattress. Lying on their backs, eyes open, they could each hear the other's breathing. Both knew that the other was not asleep, despite the silence in the room. Neither knew what to say or how to be.

Frankie had told Chloe to stop being weird only to find that it has caused her to be 'weird' herself. Everything seemed one step forward, two steps back with them. Waking up snuggled with Chloe was more comfortable and peaceful than Frankie had remembered feeling in a very long time, maybe ever. Admitting that fact to Chloe seemed like overkill, sure to scare the girl away even more.

The silent restlessness went on for seventeen minutes. Both were extremely tired but neither wanted to be the first to fall asleep. Their new closeness had made them both self-conscious. Chloe didn't want to snore or accidentally talk in her sleep. Frankie didn't want to drool on Chloe's pillow. These menial things were flooding their brains and neither of them knew that they were in the same shitty, awkward-teenager boat.

Minute twenty-one of silence pushed Chloe over the edge. She had always been an 'all in' kind of person and things were no different with her new friendship with Frankie. Chloe was unabashedly honest and that would not cease to be true now.

"So..." Chloe began timidly, voice quiet but full of life as they lie in the dark. "Remember when I had my hand on your stomach?" (She hadn't consciously decided to bring it up. Her heart and voice had joined forces and won out over her mind.)

Frankie didn't answer the question. She didn't need to. Chloe knew that the girl was wide awake and she knew that Frankie remembered. It was only a segue, after all.

"Did you like it?" Chloe asked, still gaining no response except the audible increase in the speed of Frankie's breath. "'Cause I'd kind of like to put my hand on your stomach again but that would be really weird if you didn't like it. I mean, I guess it would kind of be really weird even if you _did_ like it, right? I guess I just didn't want to go ahead and do it if you would think it was weird. But it _is_ weird. And I don't know why I can't stop talking but-"

"I liked it."

Chloe let out a sigh of relief at Frankie saving her from her own nervous rambling. She probably would have spoken consistently until something interrupted her. She was terrified and excited and her heart was bouncing in her chest.

"Oh," Chloe said, smile audible, more than pleased with Frankie's answer. "Okay."

Frankie smiled, turning her head to make out the face of her beaming friend in the dark. Chloe was looking right back at her.

"So, can I-" Chloe stopped her own question as she realised that she was already turning on to her side to face Frankie, her hand already reaching out for the woman of it's own accord.

They shifted closer naturally, Chloe's hand immediately finding it's place on Frankie's stomach, over the soft cotton of her shirt. They each took in a deep breath and sighed at the contact. Chloe remained deathly still, unsure how she had even found the boldness to ask Frankie if this was okay, let alone be brave enough to go for it.

Silence surrounded them once again but this time it wasn't laced with discomfort or awkwardness. They could feel each other's heartbeats, sense the blood rushing through the other's veins. It was real. Tangible. And that was equally beautiful and terrifying.

"I like to feel you breathing," Chloe admitted suddenly, quietly, causing Frankie's breath to hitch.

Frankie slammed her eyes shut and remained quiet, trying to keep herself in control. Chloe's simple touch, her nearness, were becoming overwhelming. She felt her own heart pounding and knew that Chloe could definitely feel it too. There was no way to hide or down play what the girl was doing to her. Careless, nonchalant Frankie was not very good at being so vulnerable.

Chloe's hand moved slightly, cautiously, dragging her fingertips across Frankie's stomach and back again. For a moment Frankie worried that she was going to stop breathing from trying so hard to keep herself in check. When Chloe's fingertips reached the hem of her shirt, she panicked.

"Wh- whatcha doing?" Frankie stuttered out, keeping her tone casual even though she was feeling anything but.

"I wanted to feel your skin," Chloe told her so freely that Frankie was envious of her openness.

"Oh. Okay," Frankie nodded awkwardly, staring at Chloe's face.

Chloe's hand was under Frankie's shirt instantly, just resting on the warm skin of her stomach. Frankie's breath was becoming ragged even though she knew to expect the sensation. The first time she had been too asleep to be affected by the contact but now... Frankie swallowed the lump in her throat, silently chastising herself because she knew Chloe had heard her. She gulped and Chloe knew it.

"You're so soft..." Chloe said slowly, dragging her fingertips across the skin and taking in the overwhelming sensations. "And warm..." she added, her fingers tracing Frankie's rib cage as they traveled, causing a pang in her own abdomen and scaring herself a little.

"Chlo..." Frankie breathed out, chancing a glance at Chloe who was half-lidded, and not from exhaustion. Frankie was torn between grabbing Chloe's hand in order to stop it's new adventure and pinning the girl to the bed. She was too breathless and lost in emotion to do either.

"I should probably stop doing this, huh?" Chloe whispered, running her finger across Frankie's stomach, across her belly button. The sincerity and wonder in her now scratchy voice let Frankie know that she wasn't teasing or taking this lightly. She was as overwhelmed by all of this as Frankie was.

Frankie didn't respond for a moment, admittedly greatly enjoying Chloe's ministrations. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to simply _feel_.

Bad idea.

"We should probably sleep," Frankie said, her voice surprising her as it came out raspy and arousal-laden.

"Can I sleep with my hand here?" she asked without missing a beat, staring into Frankie's eyes.

Frankie could barely muster a nod.

Chloe shifted closer, pulling the blankets up around them before returning her hand to it's new favourite spot. Frankie manned up and wrapped an arm around the girl, pulling her close. A little snuggle with a friend never killed anybody, right? Frankie thought, though she felt like her heart could pound out of her chest at any moment.

They closed their eyes and began to freely enjoy the comfort that they were receiving from each other, finally relaxing as exhaustion and the feeling of each other's bodies took over. Chloe's hand was still on it's own journey, tracing ribs, feeling as goosebumps formed in the wake of her touch. This power that she had was addictive for her. Awaiting each stuttered breath that Frankie took, each time an almost audible response was emitted from her. She had never felt so much influence on another person with just the soft drag of her fingertips. Having this power over _Frankie_ was what made it insatiable.

Frankie rolled on to her side, facing Chloe and inadvertently pulling the girl even closer. Chloe was staring into her eyes as she dragged one fingertip painfully slowly down the length of Frankie's hipbone.

"Nope," Frankie shot out, instinctively grabbing Chloe's hand to stop it's travel. "Nope, no nope," she shook her head, trying to calm herself down as she still had Chloe's hand in her grasp.

"Sorry," Chloe said sheepishly, though she didn't _look_ sorry at all. Her pupils were blown and she looked anything but innocent or apologetic. "I... You're just so soft, you know? And the contrast of your bones and your skin, and..." she rambled, trying to explain everything that she was feeling in the midst of still feeling it. "I just really like touching you. Like, maybe more than I should..." she said, sadness and fear creeping into her voice as she hid her face in Frankie's shoulder.

"Hey," Frankie said quietly, moving her hand to lift Chloe's face by the chin, forcing the girl to look at her. "Muppet, I _love_ when you touch me. Maybe more than I should," she chuckled, seeing a smile come to Chloe's eyes. "And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that," she said, brushing her thumb softly across Chloe's cheekbone, causing the girl to smile and lean in to the touch.

That smile, Chloe's eyes in that particular moment, emitting everything that she was feeling and turning whatever 'they' were into this corporeal being, was the most beautiful thing that Frankie had ever seen in her life. She knew that as fact. And in that moment she decided to stop being so afraid of being vulnerable.

"You're so _beautiful_ ," Frankie said honestly, before her brain could overthink it, pouring everything that she was feeling into her words and tone.

"Can I be the big spoon?"

xxx


	14. Chapter 14

_Thank you to everyone for the reads and reviews. I hope y'all are sticking with me and still enjoying it. More Holly soon (soon-soon, promise). Let me know.  
_

"Peck?!" Chloe screamed with such passion and emotion that Gail physically jumped off of the locker room bench and into a standing position.

Chloe wasn't even entirely in the room yet. She had seen the back of Gail's head and reacted accordingly. Gail had crossed paths with Chloe several times throughout the work day and the girl didn't seem affected by it either way. Aside from being slightly more reserved than usual, everything seemed normal. Until now.

"Jesus Christ, Price! Did something eat one of your cats?" Gail asked, putting a hand to her startled heart as Chloe approached, fast.

"I don't _have_ any cats, Gail," Chloe spat as though she thought Gail didn't know that. "We need to talk."

"Um... not to sound like I care- because I really, really don't- but did I do something wrong? I haven't seen you like this since... Nope. Never seen you like this," Gail decided, pulling her sweater over her head and returning her eyes to Chloe's extra large ones.

"No, you didn't do anything wrong, you fucking idiot," Chloe said, obviously out of character, scaring Gail a little, but only for a moment.

"Oohhhhhhh," Gail nodded as the realisation hit her, watching as Chloe mindlessly threw things out of her locker and then back in with no apparent goal. "You're having a tiny gay panic, aren't you?" she chuckled.

"You shut your whore mouth!" Chloe snapped, poking Gail in the chest and going even more wide-eyed.

Gail burst out laughing. Seeing Chloe be a dick, swear words and all, was a real knee-slapper.

"You wanna grab a beer?" Gail asked casually, as though it was just a normal day.

"Yes I want to get a fucking _beer_ , Peck. In fact, I might like to get _several_ beers. Now let's fucking go."

XXX

"So, Price..." Gail said, an obvious question.

They had sat at the bar for several minutes in silence, Gail watching Chloe as she gulped her first beer, staring off into space. Her leg was shaking and Gail was taken back to three days ago when she was here with Frankie. Gail _really_ didn't want a repeat of that shit storm.

"What?" Chloe asked, meeting Gail's eyes wildly, pulling her second beer toward her.

"First, please don't get ugly drunk like Frankie did the other day. I'm not in the mood. Second, how _is_ Frankie?" Gail asked, wishing Chloe would just spill the big gay beans already.

"You saw her today. You could've asked her," Chloe told her, tilting her head for affect.

"Chloe, I'm trying here. Okay, maybe I'm not trying _that_ hard, but it's obvious that you need to let some stuff out and I'm here for that. That counts for something, right?" Gail asked, looking into Chloe's emotional roller coaster eyes. "But I have laundry that I need to do tonight, so can we get to it?"

"I touched her stomach."

crickets

"You touched her stomach?" Gail asked, raising an eyebrow. "And...?"

"It was an accident," Chloe threw out quickly, as though she felt guilty. "The first time," she added.

"I'm... I'm going to need more information than that, Chloe," Gail chuckled, rolling her eyes. "Here I thought you were going to say you had some mind-blowing lesbian sex and you're here to tell me that you _touched_ her _stomach_? Unless stomach is like code for vagina, in which case-"

"No!" Chloe shook her head so quickly that it made Gail laugh. "No _vaginas_ ," she whispered the word.

"It's okay, Price. Start from the beginning and get to the torrid stomach-touching."

"She touched my scar."

"Now that's _gotta_ be code for vagina," Gail laughed.

"Gail! Stay focused here. No one touching anyone's vagina."

"Yet."

Chloe narrowed her eyes, embarrassed. She didn't argue though..

"So she touched your scar. Your bullet scar?" Gail asked, honestly not knowing Chloe well enough to know if there were other scars to which she could be referring.

Chloe nodded, subconsciously running her finger over the divot in her own neck. "I liked it. And that's weird, right? I think that's like, _really_ weird. But I guess no one ever touched it before. And it was Frankie. And she was being so fucking sweet, Gail. And then she just _kept_ touching it and then it just got..."

"Hot?"

"I...um, yeah. I guess? I don't know..." Chloe's face reddened and she looked down to her beer.

"Frankie touched your scar and you liked it. Did your vagina like it?" Gail asked with a smirk.

"Stop saying vagina!"

"Vagina."

Chloe glared.

"Wait," Gail's brow furrowed. "So where does her stomach come in? Seriously? From one vague, not-at-all-sexual body part to another..." she trailed off, shaking her head.

"We fell asleep on my couch and when I woke up my hand was on her stomach," Chloe told her, obviously flustered as she gulped some more of her beer.

"That's not weird," Gail assured her.

"It was under her shirt."

"Oh," Gail made a surprised face.

"Right. 'Oh.' I freakin' put my hand under her shirt in my sleep, Gail!"

The panic was returning.

"But you said it was an accident 'the first time'..." Gail questioned seriously.

"Of all times for you to start listening when I talk!"

"I listen when it's _interesting,_ Chloe," Gail said with a 'duh' tone. "So anyway... that second time?"

"I moved my hand off of her stomach, got all nervous and weird-"

"No? Really?!" Gail said, mock shocked.

"And then we went to bed-"

"Here we go..."

"Gail!" Chloe scolded. Gail put up her hands in defense. "We went to bed and we were both really awkward and quiet and it was like, killing me. And I couldn't stop thinking about how her skin felt-"

"Eww."

"And how warm she was-"

"You think her _stomach's_ warm..."

"So I asked her if I could do it again."

Gail stopped her incessant teasing at the sound of Chloe's final sentence. A wide grin grew upon her face and she stared at Chloe as though the girl had a penis drawn on her forehead and no idea about it.

"You asked her if you could put your hand on her stomach?" Gail asked, greatly amused.

"Mm hmm," Chloe nodded.

"Oh my God, Chloe. You really _are_ twelve!" Gail laughed so hard that it hurt for a minute. Not as much as it hurt when Chloe punched her in the shoulder, though.

"It's not funny, Gail!"

"It's actually kind of hilarious. You are almost thirty years old. You asked a woman if you could _touch_ her _stomach_!"

"Oh, God..." Chloe went wide-eyed, feeling like an idiot. "I did. I asked her if I could touch her stomach... I'm so stupid. She probably thinks I'm a moron."

"Did she say yes?"

"Well I mean, it was kind of... implied? I mean... The whole thing sounds ridiculous but it was a lot more serious than it seems," Chloe told her, remembering Frankie's laboured breaths, the blood rushing through both of their veins, the way they stared into each other's eyes.

"Serious how?"

"Like...intense. It was- it was just her stomach but it was a lot more than that, you know?" Chloe asked, looking up into Gail's eyes hopefully, praying she wouldn't get made fun of or brushed off again. She needed Gail to understand without knowing how to fully explain.

"When you came to pick her up here the other day, I saw it," Gail admitted, rolling her eyes at her own sincerity. "You two together, I actually got it, ya know?"

Chloe stared back at her, unable to respond.

"You really care about her, don't you?"

"I..." Chloe looked around naturally, unsure if she was trying to escape or distract herself. "I don't know what it is."

"She hasn't kissed you yet?"

Chloe shook her head rapidly. "I don't think she will."

"What do you mean?!" Gail scoffed.

"I mean, I think she's going to wait for me to do it. She's so...respectful, ya know? I know that doesn't sound like Frankie but with me... I don't know," Chloe smiled to herself just thinking about the woman.

Gail looked at her, a soft smile on her face despite herself.

"Do you want to kiss her?" she asked casually, watching as Chloe practically swooned at the mere conversation.

"Duh!" Chloe burst out before she thought to stop herself. "Shit..." she responded after seeing Gail's eyes go wide and realising what her reaction was.

Chloe had been thinking about all of this _way_ too much for weeks. She wasn't stupid; she knew that there was a definite _something_ between her and Frankie. Until that moment, however, she hadn't admitted that she actually _wanted_ the woman. Even to herself.

"So what happened since the stomach incident?" Gail asked, allowing Chloe to escape her embarrassment.

"Nothing. We haven't talked about it," Chloe shrugged, grateful for Gail's sort of subject change.

"People don't usually feel the need to discuss a stomach touching incident."

"I just mean we're totally normal. Like it never happened, except maybe a little... further apart...?" Chloe furrowed her brow in worry as she considered it.

"Physically further apart?" Gail was confused.

Chloe nodded. "She didn't really touch me today."

"Can I give you my opinion?" Gail asked, suddenly getting a disgusted look upon her face. " _God_! I just asked if I could give you my opinion. She's probably worried that you're freaking out about it, which you are, and doesn't want to do anything to make you freak out more. Believe it or not, Price, this is a normal occurrence."

"The freak out is normal?"

"Uh, yeah. It's called gay panic for a reason," Gail chuckled, shaking her head at the rookie.

"I'm not actually _gay_ , Gail," Chloe rolled her eyes.

"Doesn't matter. The feelings you're having sound pretty fucking gay," Gail shrugged.

"Did you?" Chloe asked suddenly, finishing off her second beer and glancing across the way at Louie.

"Did I what?"

"Gay panic."

"Hell yeah I did. I was like the gay panicker of the year or something," Gail laughed, remembering. "I pushed Holly away for weeks before I let myself be okay with it. Actually I didn't let myself be okay with it for quite a while," she added sadly. "What a waste of time..."

"What do you mean?" Chloe asked, seeing the change in her friend's demeanor.

"All that time that I spent being afraid? I could have spent that time being with Holly. But I wasted it because I was a fucking coward."

Gail's words hit Chloe like a brick. The genuine emotion coming from her friend was a rarity, or at least her freely expressing it was. It was clear from Gail's crystal blue eyes just how much she missed Holly and that she would do anything to get that time back.

"I know it's scary, Chloe. I understand all too well. But don't be a coward. You'll just turn in to a bitter old rueful woman if you do."

XXX


	15. Chapter 15

_Hey, y'all. Have some drabble. Fun stuff, coming up. I hope you're still on board. Thanks to everyone.  
_

 _'Colours of the world (spice up your life), every boy and every girl (spice up your life)...'_

The ringtone caught Chloe's attention just as she was finally distracting herself with the old novel she had curled into her lap. She had to admit that she immediately and instinctively hoped that it would be Frankie's face she saw reflected on her phone. But this contact didn't have a photo to go along with it. Chloe's eyes grew wide and subconscious internal fear became present.

Holly.

Holly?!

She and the forensic pathologist had always gotten along well but they weren't known to make random phone calls to each other, especially now that Holly resided in San Francisco.

"Holly?!" Chloe answered, not even attempting to hide the panic she was feeling. "Did someone die? What's wrong?"

The sound of clear, Holly laughter flowing across the line put Chloe's mind at ease.

"Glad to hear you haven't changed much, Chloe," Holly said. Chloe could hear the smile in her voice.

"I'm sorry. You scared me. Seeing your name on my phone made me assume something was wrong," Chloe explained. " _Is_ something wrong?"

"Not a thing," Holly promised. "Quite the opposite, actually."

"Okay..."

"I was hoping you could help me out with something."

"You're moving back! Are you moving back?!" Chloe exclaimed, happy about the presumed news for no other reason than caring about the moody blonde who had somehow become her best friend.

"Not so fast, Price," Holly laughed, sounding a lot like Gail when she used Chloe's last name. "We're not quite to _that_ point, yet. But I am planning a visit..."

"That's great! When? Does Gail know? She's going to be so excited, Holly!"

"No," Holly chuckled. "She doesn't know. That's kind of the part I need your help with."

"Sure. Anything. What can I do?" Chloe didn't realise that she was grinning as though it was her _own_ long lost girlfriend coming to T.O.

"I'll be getting in to Toronto on Friday, probably around evening there. I really want to surprise Gail but I don't know how to do that without being really obvious about hiding something," Holly told her.

"You know I'm the sneakiest," Chloe told her happily.

"Right..." Holly rolled her eyes to herself. "So I was hoping that maybe I could stash my stuff at your place and then you and your girlfriend could make Gail go out to the Penny or somewhere with you and I could meet you there."

"Great idea! That's not a problem at all. Gail won't even have a chance to think it's suspicious," Chloe nodded, mentally replaying Holly's words. "Wait-" her face dropped as the mental rewind finished. " _Girlfriend_?"

"Yeah. Frankie, right?"

Holly was _very_ intentionally teasing the girl but she was so slick about it that Chloe had no idea.

"She's definitely _not_ my girlfriend," Chloe said, though a nervous chuckle escaped her.

"Oh. Sorry," Holly said, allowing herself to laugh at Chloe's awkwardness.

"So let me guess; Gail has completely filled you in on every very secret thing that I've told her in the last few weeks?" Chloe accused but her tone was light, not angry.

"Not _every_ thing," Holly guessed. "So how's that going for you, anyway?" she asked, sincerely caring.

"That- there's not... I mean..." Chloe stuttered, unsure how to answer or just how much Gail had divulged. "Remember how I have a boyfriend?" she asked, thinking it would put an end to the teasing and the conversation.

Silence covered the light-hearted tone through the line.

"You're still with Dov?" Holly asked seriously after a beat. It was apparent that she was not joking this time.

"Um... yeah," Chloe said carefully, taking in the weight of the assumption. "I mean, I haven't really seen him in a while, except at work, but..."

"Wow..." Holly truly was shocked. In all of the conversations that Gail had with her about 'Cranky Muppet', Dov hadn't come up in a long time. She assumed that his relationship with Chloe was long over.

"Why- why are you surprised?" Chloe asked, almost choking on the question.

"Just, um, with everything going on with Frankie it just seemed like you must be single," Holly said, honestly. "This is more than a fling, right? With Frankie, I mean."

Chloe was stunned into silence. 'More than a fling'? Was it even a 'fling'? She was pretty sure that flings involved sex or at least more than bed time stomach touching incidents. Whatever it was with Frankie, fling was not it.

"Chloe?" Holly asked, unsure if she'd scared the girl away or if the call had dropped.

"It's not a fling," Chloe said quietly.

"Okay. I'm sorry, Chloe. I didn't mean to get into all of this with you if you aren't ready."

"No, I- don't be sorry," Chloe told her, shaking her head to try to rid herself of the stupor. "You're right. It is more than a fling. I think. Whatever a fling constitutes..."

"Okay," Holly laughed lightly. "Well I can't wait to meet this mystery detective of yours," she added.

Something in the sincerity Holly held with the statement hit Chloe: Holly had no idea about Frankie and Gail. Suddenly Chloe felt awkward, like she was at risk of betraying her best friend _and_ this sweet pathologist who only had her best interest in mind. She wondered if Gail had ever intended to tell Holly about their fling. Now _that_ was a fling, Chloe decided, finally having her own definition of the word. And whatever Gail had with Frankie was certainly not what Chloe had with her. She hoped.

XXX

The next afternoon found Gail and Frankie sitting in a squad car together, waiting for a low-grade dealer who it seemed would never show. It had been business as usual, aside from the fact that things were so quiet. Their task of the day was to find this middle man and bring him in; anything else could wait.

And wait they did. It had been nearly an hour since he was spotted and they were sent out but there was still not so much as a scuffle on the busy side street. Gail was bored but forced herself to remain attentive. Frankie's mind was obviously elsewhere.

"So, Peck..." Frankie began with an obvious question in her voice. Gail couldn't stifle the sigh and eye roll.

"Oh God. Is this round two?" Gail asked, looking the confused detective right in the eye. "Because I think I've met my quota on lesbi-drama for the week."

"Why do you always talk like you're not one of the gays?" Frankie asked, shaking her head at the woman. "Like, you're gay, Gail. You sleep with women. You're gay," she spelled out.

"Yeah, Anderson. I _know,_ " Gail told her. "Doesn't mean I have to be such a little bitch about it," she said but a well-meaning smirk had crept onto her face.

"And what do you mean, round two?" Frankie asked, sounding a bit hopeful despite her best efforts. "Did she talk to you?"

"Who's 'she'?" Gail asked, intentionally making things worse.

"Nevermind, Peck. Forget it," Frankie threw her hand up. "I don't want to put anymore 'lesbi-drama' on you," she sighed.

"Geez, Anderson. Don't be such a baby. I was just messing with you," Gail told her, not being as soft as she would with Chloe. "It _is_ possible that your muppet may have talked to me."

"So, am I..." Frankie scratched her head, looking for words to convey something she knew she couldn't quite describe. "This isn't all in my head, right?" she finally asked, showing more emotion than Gail was used to- more than she would have liked.

"Anything that Chloe may or may not have told me will remain sealed in my brain, whether I want it in there or not," Gail told her, making the zipped-lips motion.

Frankie nodded, impressed by Gail's loyalty, particularly when it came to Chloe.

"I just want to make sure I'm not imagining it, ya know? We're..." Frankie seemed lost again and Gail decided she had never seen the woman so stoic and contemplative, at least not when she was sober. "I've never _not_ just wanted to fuck a girl before," she admitted, seemingly embarrassed.

"Syntax, Anderson," Gail said, eyebrows furrowed.

"What?" Frankie's brows were now furrowed as well.

"I'm not sure I get what you're saying..." Gail tried to play the words back. "You don't want to sleep with Chloe? 'Cause that's what I heard and I'm _fairly certain_ that's not what you meant."

"No, I-" Frankie laughed, frustrated. "I feel like I can't win this conversation," she said with a chuckle.

"Go for it," Gail offered.

"I don't _just_ want to sleep with her," Frankie said quietly. "And that's fucking terrifying. I'm used to sleeping with chicks. It's easy, one of us gets bored but neither of us really cared and we move on. I never really had to think about it."

"But now?" Gail asked, surprised and intrigued by Frankie's openness.

Frankie shrugged awkwardly, visibly uncomfortable.

"We haven't even kissed."

"I know," Gail said, immediately regretting it as she saw Frankie's eyes widen. "I mean, no, I don't know anything. In fact, I don't even know what I'm talking about..."

Frankie smiled widely, genuinely. That meant Chloe had _definitely_ talked to her.

"So that means that she's _thought_ about the fact that we haven't kissed..." Frankie grinned.

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't need to," Frankie countered. "I can't kiss her, man," she said, suddenly serious.

"Let me guess: You feel like you need to leave it up to her, ball in her court or whatever. So you know she actually wants it and it's real and blah blah blah gay blah?"

"Yeah," Frankie nodded seriously. "Yeah, that's pretty much right on."

"Well I think that's a good plan."

"What if she like, keeps the ball over there?" Frankie asked, talking around how seriously she felt.

"Dude, I really don't think she will."

xxx


	16. Chapter 16

_This one is a bit long. I hope y'all don't mind. I had a lot of ground to cover. Thanks for all the support. Please let me know how you're liking it._

As soon as he got the call, he knew. It had been eleven days since Dov and Chloe had spent any time together outside of work and when they did it ended in yet another shallow argument. Seeing each other in passing at work was barely even nice anymore. He no longer got the happy flutter in his heart when her eyes met his. He knew what it meant.

Chloe called to ask if he was home, if she could stop by briefly. He wasn't an idiot and he knew Chloe pretty well at this point; it wasn't a social call. Dov cleaned up the apartment a little, changed out of his sweats and into some jeans, as if any of it would make a difference. He already knew it wouldn't. He almost beat her to the punch when she walked in the door.

"Dov..." she said, rubbing her hands together nervously as she paced near the couch, unsure of her wording but certain of what she had to do, for both of them.

"I know-" he interrupted before stopping himself, deciding to hear her out and hope for the best.

"It's just not..." she began, blinking hard because she knew that he knew. "I care about you, you know? I do. _So_ much. It's just not what it used to be," she sighed, perching on the arm of the couch briefly before standing and walking in circles again.

"Why do you think that is, Chloe?" he asked, his tone reflecting an anger that only made Chloe more nervous and guilt-ridden.

"I don't know. I mean, we've been growing apart for months, Dov. You can't tell me I'm wrong."

"No. I can't tell you you're wrong. That's actually why I'm pissed. You breaking up with me is one thing but why didn't you just get to it?" he asked seriously, now pacing too.

"What do you mean?" she asked, genuinely confused.

"Chloe you were too busy to break up with me, for months! I knew this was coming, I saw it happening right in front of me. We haven't even spent enough time together for you to end it!" he told her. "I know why this is happening and I get that you can't really control it, but you could have just gotten it over with months ago. Instead you strung me along and let me hope it would get better when _you_ knew it wouldn't. Why didn't you just tell me when it first started?" Tears were forming in his eyes but they were more out of frustration than sadness.

"When what first started?"

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them. Her anxiety-filled mind didn't know what he meant, but only for a fraction of a second. A fraction of a second too late.

"Frankie."

There it was. Out there in the open. From Dov. Chloe felt her heart catch in her chest, a strangled breath creeping out audibly. She didn't know how to react. She was terrified and overwhelmed and fought the urge to run.

"I... I don't know what you mean."

Chloe had always been a terrible liar but this one really took it.

"Come on, Chloe!" he rolled his eyes. "We were fine before Frankie. We had our moments, we weren't always perfect, but we were still _together_. Why do you think I was so defensive about you two hanging out all the time? I'm not a moron."

"We- we really aren't together, Dov," she said, her own tears forming.

"Are you telling me that you _didn't_ cheat on me?" he asked, wiping his eyes angrily.

"I didn't! I swear I didn't."

Dov nodded, somehow knowing that she was telling the truth. He plopped down onto the couch and put his head in his hands.

"It was only a matter of time, right?" he asked, looking up slightly.

"What do you mean?"

"I believe that you didn't cheat on me but it's obvious how you feel about her. I guess I should be happy that you're breaking up with me before you actually get with her, right?"

Part of Chloe wanted to say yes, he was right. She knew that it was not the time for that. She had never meant to hurt him.

"I'm sorry, Dov. You have no idea how sorry," she told him, tears flowing freely.

"I know," he said, nodding. "You wanna know something stupid?" he asked, laughing thickly as he barely made eye contact. "After I stop hurting, after I stop being so bitter about this, I'm actually going to be happy for you."

Chloe didn't know how to respond so she remained silent as she listened to her pulse pounding in her head.

"I'm glad you found her, Chloe. I just wish it wouldn't have been while you were _my_ girlfriend."

XXX

Chloe's mind raced as she drove home, causing her to pay little attention to her surroundings. It was a good thing it was close and she was thinking too hard to drive fast. Her first instinct was to call Frankie which only made her feel more guilty. She thought better of it. Calling your friend who may or may not be part of the reason for your break up seemed like a bad idea.

Despite her guilt, a selfish thought crossed her mind; What if Dov told people about her and Frankie? There wasn't even a 'her and Frankie' yet and she was worried about being outed. Chloe didn't think that he would share the information maliciously but that didn't mean he wouldn't share it at all. It wasn't embarrassment that scared her; she was anything but embarrassed of Frankie. Chloe didn't want the picture to be painted that she just dropped Dov for _anyone_. The fact that it was for a woman was only a detail.

Chloe was not and never had been a cheater. Aside from the goodbye kiss with Wes (which really didn't mean anything), she had never even come close to cheating. Now that she thought about it, whatever this was with Frankie was the closest to cheating that she'd gotten. And it _was_ cheating, wasn't it? Even if nothing had happened between them physically she had been emotionally cheating for months. It took that realisation for her to understand why Dov had asked why she hadn't ended it sooner. It was a revelation that only magnified her guilt.

xxx

"She finally did it."

The words were out of Dov's mouth before Gail was even entirely through the doorway to their apartment. She saw a beer bottle in his hand as he sat on the couch in ratty old sweatpants and wondered what the hell he was talking about.

"Oh...kay?" she asked, eyeing him up before she even took off her coat.

"Chloe," he said, flat. "Finally broke up with me."

Gail's eyes went wide. That was the last thing to come to mind upon Dov's sullen greeting. Some days she forgot that Dov and Chloe had even still been together.

"I'm sorry, Dov," she said honestly, resting a hand on his shoulder. "How are you holding up?"

She had decided to take the supportive friend approach and hope that the 'why's and 'wherefore's of the break-up remained undiscussed.

"I mean, I saw it coming, you know?" he said, looking up at her with sad eyes. "We all did. I guess I just need to adjust."

"You will. It'll get easier," she told him, throwing her coat aside and grabbing a beer from the fridge.

"She cried," he said suddenly, taking Gail by surprise.

"I'm sure she didn't want to hurt you, Dov."

"I'm just glad she ended it before they slept together."

BOOM.

Gail _really_ didn't know how to react to that.

"They didn't, right? She told me she didn't cheat on me and I believed her but now my minds just racing," he shook his head.

"Um..." Gail wanted to assure him that no, they hadn't slept together, but she also wanted to claim as little knowledge and therefore, responsibility, as she could. "Chloe didn't cheat on you," she decided on her semantics.

Dov nodded solemnly.

"How long have you known?"

Jesus. Gail felt like _she_ was the one who just dumped him.

"They're not together, Dov."

"Yet," he countered. "How long have you known that they're going to be?"

Gail shrugged awkwardly. She wanted to be honest with her friend but again, didn't want to assume her own guilt.

"A while," she said quietly.

"Is it weird that I feel bad for her?" he asked, shaking his head at himself. "She was upset. I know she didn't want to hurt me and I know she's probably kind of scared about this whole thing."

"Yeah... she probably is."

XXX

"Hey-" Gail sighed out into the phone, feeling like a child of divorce, betraying one of her oldest friends.

"Jesus, Peck. Someone piss in your vodka?" Frankie chuckled, surprised to see the woman calling; even more surprised to hear the exasperated tone of her voice.

"No, um..." Gail started, rolling her eyes at her _care_. She was still adjusting to this whole 'good friend' thing. "So this sounds really dumb but Chloe broke up with Dov, which, I know, good thing, but I guess she was upset? And maybe I should be calling her instead of you but it seems like maybe this is more your area than mine?"

"Why was she upset?" Frankie's tone, suddenly serious, shocked Gail.

"She feels guilty, I think? I don't know. Dov's the one who got dumped but he said he felt bad for her. Like he could tell she was scared."

"Scared about what?" Frankie asked, trying like hell to ignore the pang in her chest.

"You."

XXX

The slow knock on the apartment door startled Chloe out of her daze. She had been sitting on the couch in silence, just taking everything in. Cliche as it sounded, she was torn between feeling guilty and feeling free. She had been on and off with Dov for years now and as much as she cared for him she knew that their time was up a while ago.

Chloe shuffled her feet into her slippers and made her way to the door, expecting it to be Gail and hoping it wasn't Dov. She looked through the peephole and was taken aback to see Frankie standing in the hall with a paper bag in her hand. Chloe's heart skipped a beat out of anxiousness and excitement at once. She always wanted to spend time with Frankie. She felt bad for feeling that way _right now_.

"Hi," Chloe said quietly as she opened the door, not bothering to hide the surprise in her voice.

"Hey, Muppet," Frankie smiled softly, stepping into the apartment without taking her concerned eyes off of Chloe. "How are ya?"

Frankie's tone was evident. Word really did travel fast, didn't it?

"Let me guess: you're here to check up on me?" Chloe rolled her eyes, leading Frankie into the living room and reclaiming her spot on the couch.

"Muppet, you know that I wouldn't come to check up on you _just_ to check up on you," Frankie smirked, sitting on the couch next to the girl. "I heard that maybe you were sad and I didn't like that. So I came to check up on you," she grinned.

Chloe actually laughed, watching as Frankie pulled a six pack out of the paper bag she was holding and passed her a beer. She stared at Frankie's face for a moment, thinking about how far they had come. They used to hate each other, or so it seemed. Now the woman was sitting on her couch just to make sure that she was okay.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" Frankie asked, leaning back into the couch and putting her arm around Chloe's shoulders instinctively.

"Not a whole lot to tell," Chloe shrugged, sipping her beer and leaning into Frankie's comfort. "It was way past time and he called me out about it. So yeah, I feel guilty," she admitted.

"I get it. I just don't want you to be upset," she told her, watching her sad eyes. "Are you only sad because you feel guilty?"

"Mostly. I mean, he was right about a lot of things. He knew this was coming, too. Dov's not stupid. I guess I just feel bad that I strung him along all this time," she said, brushing her cheek against Frankie's t-shirt clad shoulder. "But this whole thing is stupid," she decided, sitting up slightly and shaking the tears from behind her eyes. "I was the dump-ER, not the dump-EE. I shouldn't need comfort right now."

"Well you know I'm here, Chlo. Whether you think you _deserve_ comfort or not," Frankie told her, pulling her back into her arms.

Chloe closed her eyes and inhaled Frankie's scent. It was always the same and just so Frankie. Clean laundry, not floral, and a hint of sage or something similar. Chloe wasn't a botanist. She just loved the way that Frankie smelled and the complete bodily affect that it had on her.

Frankie felt Chloe breathe in deeply and smile. She looked down at her suddenly more peaceful face and smiled too.

"Oooh, we have a project," Chloe grinned, out of nowhere, not picking her head up from Frankie's shoulder despite the excitement she was expressing.

"Umm..." Frankie's brow furrowed. "You have been checked for adult A.D.D., right?" She was only half-kidding.

"Holly's coming to visit tomorrow!" Chloe said happily, picking her head up but remaining against Frankie. "And we need to be sneaky to surprise Gail."

"Honestly, Muppet, we're not that great at being sneaky," Frankie smirked, an obvious double-meaning.

"Whatever," Chloe brushed off. "Holly's going to get in tomorrow evening and put her stuff here. All we have to do is get Gail to go out with us so that Holly can meet us and surprise her."

"Good thing that doesn't require us to be very sneaky at all," Frankie chuckled.

"There's _one_ more little thing, though," Chloe said, looking serious. "Holly doesn't know that you and Gail ever-" she felt her throat dry up at the mere thought of it, "whatever it was," she told her, attempting to blink hard enough to wipe the bitterness from her expression. "I mean, I didn't ask Gail if she knew but I'm sure I would have been able to tell."

"Well how does Holly know about me at all?" Frankie asked, raising an eyebrow and nudging Chloe with her shoulder.

"Oh, well-" Chloe fought the blush creeping onto her cheeks. "I mean, I'm sure Gail's brought you up-"

"Gail brought me up, to Holly?" Frankie asked skeptically, smirk firmly in place as she watched Chloe falter.

"So maybe you and I are a hot topic of dramatic conversation," Chloe chuckled nervously, taking a drink of her beer. "Gail's kind of told Holly just about everything, for a while now."

Frankie laughed, scrunching her nose up and bumping Chloe's shoulder again.

"Aww, we're famous," she joked.

"And I mean, you _may_ have come up in conversation when I was on the phone with Holly the other night..."

"May I have?" Frankie asked, tilting her head and watching Chloe grin at her.

"You may have..."

"Good," Frankie said directly, pulling Chloe to her and resting her head on the back of the couch.

When had this become 'normal' for them? When was holding each other what their bodies naturally decided to do? Frankie stared at Chloe's arm, which was draped lightly over her torso. She was running her fingertips up and down Chloe's arm and she hadn't even realised it. Her heartbeat picked up quickly, her gaze now on Chloe's sweet face, her long eyelashes. It hit Frankie, hard; this was real.

"Muppet, you know that Gail and I weren't anything, right?" she said suddenly, breaking the comfortable silence.

Chloe raised her eyes, anxiously wondering where this was going.

"Holly never has to know about me and Gail unless _Gail_ chooses to tell her. But there's really nothing to tell."

"Well there's _some stuff_ to tell," Chloe practically grumbled.

"Nothing real. That's what I mean," Frankie told her, looking directly into her huge eyes. "I never held Gail," she said, subconsciously looking at her arms which were protectively wrapped around Chloe. "We never talked when we were sad or upset. We never really _got_ each other, you know? And we didn't want to."

Chloe nodded, understanding what Frankie was saying but still fighting the jealous stomach acid swirling inside of her.

"Gail never made me feel like my heart was going to beat right the hell out of my chest," Frankie added quietly, gently entwining her hand with Chloe's and watching the girl's eyes close at the spark that shot through them. "I was never drawn to her. I didn't need her. And there was no _fire_ , like..." she trailed off, apprehensive about saying the words aloud. Instead of finishing the sentence she just allowed her gaze to travel from their clasped hands to Chloe's eyes, then to her lips. She felt Chloe shudder beside her, just from watching Frankie watch her.

Chloe knew that Frankie was trying to be as vague as possible, only for her sake. Frankie's message was received, loud and clear. But now Chloe couldn't think of anything but kissing Frankie, feeling her near, closer. She needed to tear her eyes away, fast. She snuggled her face into Frankie's shoulder, trying to will her erratic heart to relax. Chloe felt as Frankie brushed her face over the top of her head, laying soft, almost-kisses in her hair. Chloe smiled and hoped that Frankie couldn't feel her body trembling. She definitely could.

XXX


	17. Chapter 17

_Sorry for the delay. Work and life and stuff. Though writing this fic is way more fun than all that. I hope you enjoy. More Golly to come. Let me know..._

The November chill had finally caught up with Toronto and Chloe experimented with the fog of her breath as she waited for Frankie's car to warm up.

"You know you can wait _in_ the car," Frankie laughed, rolling down the window and shaking her head at her friend.

"It's a beautiful morning, Cranky," Chloe grinned, watching the slight frost disappear from the windows of the vehicle. "You should be waiting _outside_ of the car," she smirked.

"I'm good, thanks," Frankie smiled.

Neither could deny the peaceful tone that surrounded them. They had gotten an amazing night's sleep and were more than ready to face their day. Frankie watched as Chloe smiled, staring off and seemingly thinking about something great. She hoped that she was that something.

Chloe laughed out loud at herself after she imagined how good her mood will be _after_ she and Frankie actually kiss. _After. Will._ They were suddenly definitive terms, no longer _ifs,_ or _maybes._ She felt like she was in the clouds after a night of sleeps and snuggles. Her heart pounded when she thought of the _when_.

"Get in, Muppet. You can't daydream about me _all_ day," Frankie smirked, raising an eyebrow as she watched Chloe's expression change. She'd been caught. Frankie loved it.

They walked in to work together casually, the same way that they had been spending time together for months. No one would have thought any differently of it except for today they actually _arrived_ together. If anyone noticed they didn't act like it.

Chloe spotted Gail at her desk as soon as they walked in, planning her sneaky mission in her head.

"Be cool, Chloe," she said quietly to herself, causing Frankie to laugh out loud.

"Yeah, good luck with that, Babe," she chuckled, nudging Chloe in the ribs.

Babe.

It was so simple. So direct and potentially meaningless. Chloe's heart went wild anyway.

"Good morning, Gail," Chloe said calmly, putting her bag down at her desk and acknowledging her friend.

"Is it?" Gail asked, unsure if she was asking for her own sake or Chloe's.

"I mean, as good as can be expected," Chloe shrugged, remembering that she had just broken up with Dov _last night_ and probably shouldn't act as giddy as she felt. There came the guilt again.

Gail just nodded, understanding but not wanting to get into the entire thing at work, where Dov could appear at any moment.

"We're going out tonight," Chloe said suddenly, terrible at segues and even worse at lying.

"Um... congratulations?" Gail furrowed her brow, unsure where that had come from. Frankie looked at Chloe just as strangely.

"No, Gail! I meant all three of us," Chloe said as though Gail should have assumed that.

Gail just stared blankly.

"Muppet is a man-eater with a heart of gold and she needs to get out," Frankie said suddenly. "Her guilt is just killing her," she added, over-dramatically, earning an elbow to the ribs from Chloe and a chuckle from Gail.

"I don't want to third wheel the two of you," Gail wagged her eyebrows.

Chloe looked around the room instinctively, hoping that Dov wasn't in earshot. Her reaction was easy to read.

"Price, I'm not a _complete_ monster," Gail shook her head. "I promise I won't make couple jokes about the two of you in front of Dov for at _least_ a week or two," she smirked.

"Gee, thanks, Gail," Chloe rolled her eyes.

"So where are we going?" Gail asked, putting her feet up on her desk like she owned the place, like always.

"I was planning to go to the Penny first and then see if we feel up for the club," Chloe said, attempting to be as casual as possible though she could feel Frankie's eyes burning a hole into her.

"Feeling freaky, Price? It's almost like you're suddenly back on the market or something," Gail laughed. Chloe didn't appreciate it.

"Yep, wild and free, single Muppet..." Frankie added, only egging Chloe on more.

"You both are awful," Chloe scowled.

"It's not all about you, Chloe," Frankie said dramatically, though she bumped the woman's hip with her own as she spoke. "Maybe Peck will meet a lovely lady tonight..." she teased, gaining a knowing look from Chloe that luckily went unnoticed by Gail.

"No thank you," Gail said flatly. "Price might be pretending to be on the market but I'm certainly not."

XXX

"Spare key is in a paper enveloped taped to the bottom of the Welcome Mat," - Chloe texted Holly quickly, looking over her shoulder to assure that Gail was not too near.

"What if someone steals your Welcome Mat?" - H.

"I really like that mat." - C.

"Put your stuff wherever and be at the Penny at seven :)" - C.

"How hard was it to convince her to go out tonight?" - H.

"I broke up with Dov last night. Frankie kind of used that to guilt trip her into going." - Chloe cringed as she typed it out.

"Should I say 'I'm sorry' or 'I'm happy for you'?" - H.

"Neither. Say you'll see us at seven." - C.

XXX

"So how bad was the break up?"

It took all of seven minutes at the Penny (they literally _just_ had their drinks sat in front of them) for Gail to ask. Chloe expected it. She also kind of hoped that Holly would arrive before that particular topic of conversation arose.

"I mean, it was a break up, Gail," Chloe shrugged, subconsciously looking at Frankie out of the corner of her eye. "About as well as could be expected."

Chloe knew that she would have to talk about it and she really didn't mind. What she did mind was divulging the information that Dov assumed about Frankie.

"He saw it coming," Gail said flatly, as though Chloe didn't already know.

"He almost beat me to it," she admitted. "He asked me why I didn't do it sooner."

"Not to be a buzz kill but why _didn't_ you do it sooner?" Gail asked, sipping her beer. They were going out specifically to talk about the break up, right?

"I-" Chloe considered her friend's words. She noticed that she had Frankie's undivided attention, though the detective was attempting to be subtle about it. "I honestly don't know. I think I felt bad and I _know_ that I didn't want to hurt him. I didn't realise that I was only going to hurt him more by waiting."

"Did you think that maybe things would fix themselves?" Frankie asked suddenly, surprising Chloe. "That maybe if something changed you would end up wanting to stay with him?"

Gail's eyebrow quirked at the directness of the question. She knew that the two ladies were still dancing around each other but she didn't realise they were still dancing _so_ far apart.

"I don't know," Chloe said, unsure how to answer the question, particularly when it was being asked by Frankie. "You know things haven't been great for a while..."

"You two still haven't made out, have you?" Gail asked, a revelation, causing both women's heads to snap up in her direction.

"Why would you ask that?!" Chloe asked, wide-eyed, feeling the heat of her blush creeping up her neck. Frankie just stared.

"When you two walked into work together this morning I just assumed you finally had the sleepover, you know? And I don't mean like your normal sleepovers. I mean like, _the_ sleepover." Gail spoke so casually about the whole thing that it only made the situation more awkward somehow.

"We carpooled!" Chloe argued seriously, causing Frankie to chuckle into her beer.

"Is that what the kids are calling it?" Gail laughed. "Though pathetically it seems like you actually did carpool, now that I know you haven't even made out yet."

"What makes you think we haven't made out yet?" Frankie asked with a wink, trying to throw Gail off and gain control of the conversation.

"Because the two of you are sitting here at a bar with me right now," Gail said directly. "If you had finally so much as kissed you _know_ you'd be going at it somewhere. Preferably somewhere that I was not present. All that sexual tension, all of your months of _waiting_ and being _responsible_ finally driving you fucking crazy. After you _do_ get to it I guarantee I won't see either of you for at least a few weeks-"

"Is this seat taken?"

Gail, and her heart, were stopped in their tracks as the woman's voice flowed through her ears. Her senses finally came back to her as the familiar scent of Holly overtook. She hadn't even looked up yet, afraid that she was imagining it. Afraid that she wasn't.

Holly's trademark smirk graced her features as she took in the way that Gail froze at her words. Gail seemed instantly nervous and child-like in that moment. She hadn't even looked into the woman's eyes yet.

Gail turned slowly, glancing up to see Holly smiling as she stood at the bar stool next to her. She was obviously awaiting _some_ kind of reaction but Gail hadn't yet regained the ability to breathe.

"H-Holly?" Gail would have been embarrassed by her tone if she could actually hear the stutter in her own voice. "What the-?"

Holly's smiled grew, instinctively pulling Gail into her arms, taking in her scent and feeling. She hadn't realised _just_ how much she'd missed this, missed her, until that moment.

"Surprise," Holly whispered. She felt Gail shudder in her arms and a small sound of joy escape her lips.

Gail pulled away enough to stare the woman in the face, taking it all in and willing her heart to return to a normal, healthy rate.

"Seriously?" she said quietly, not letting her arms disentangle from the woman.

"Hi," Holly smiled softly, unable to control the tears that were building behind her eyes.

"Hi," Gail smiled back, watching Holly's eyes sparkle. "How did you...?"

"Chloe and Frankie helped," Holly nodded in their direction. "Which, by the way, hi," she said, reaching a hand over to squeeze Chloe's, unwilling to pull herself away from Gail just yet.

"Hi Holly," Chloe grinned happily, seeing the love and emotion overwhelming her friends. The only times she had ever seen Gail beam were times with Holly and this one beat them all. "Holly, this is Frankie," she introduced politely, not realising that she gazed at the detective proudly and reached over to touch her arm as she did so.

"Nice to meet you, Frankie. Thanks for helping out with all of this," Holly smiled, pulling her seat up closer to them, still touching Gail's back.

"No problem," Frankie nodded. "Anything to see tough ass Peck with that little puppy dog look on her face."

Gail scowled at her instinctively.

"Seriously, Peck! Jesus Christ. I didn't know your face did that," Frankie laughed, light hearted, earning an elbow from Chloe regardless.

"Glad to help," Holly joked, stealing Gail's beer and taking a drink.

Gail continued to just stare at her face.

"How long have you been planning this?" Gail asked seriously, shocked that her friends had been in cahoots.

"Just under a week," Holly told her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "I found out that I could get some time off and I called Chloe right away."

"How long?"

Gail didn't have to elaborate. Holly knew exactly what she was asking. Gail didn't do abstract. She needed exact numbers and timeframes and she wouldn't allow herself to hope for more for nothing.

"I go back in eleven days."

Gail was both happy and sad at the answer. She would have been torn no matter _what_ the answer, if she was being honest with herself. Eleven days was short, but it was also long. It would never be _enough_ time but she would certainly take what she could get.

"Where are you staying?" Gail was almost robotic in her questions, only fearing disappointment.

"Well my things are at Chloe's but that was only because I couldn't really surprise you if I left them at your place," Holly nudged Gail's shoulder. "I was hoping I could stay with you."

"Yes!" Gail said way too loudly. "Of course you could. Will. Of course you will."

Holly laughed, relieved to find that Gail was happy to see her. They hadn't established what they were or what they could be and springing this visit on her was taking a risk. Not that Gail would ever be unhappy to see her, but without clear terms and boundaries it could have been tense. It wasn't.

"Muppet, you didn't tell me that Gail had a heart," Frankie grinned, putting her arm around Chloe's shoulders.

"Sometimes," Chloe smiled, earning an eye roll from Gail.

"They probably want to be alone," Frankie piped up suddenly, as though Gail and Holly were not in earshot. "Do you two want to be alone?" she asked, smirking.

"You're just asking because _you two_ want to be alone," Gail threw back though, yes, she did want to be alone with Holly now.

"Oh," Holly said, brows furrowed. "Are we allowed to make jokes about them obviously being all heart-eyes?" she asked seriously though a smirk formed upon seeing Chloe's blush. "I thought maybe it was too soon."

"Ha!" Gail scoffed. "Too soon... Can you believe they haven't even made out yet?"

XXX


	18. Chapter 18

_Sorry it's been a minute since I updated. I work in retail and tis the season for me to not have a moment to myself. Moving right along... I hope you enjoy. I am still very committed to this story and I hope that you are as well. Let me know what you think. It's about to get steamier up in here._

The apartment was fortunately quiet as Gail and Holly entered. A serene silence had fallen upon them on the drive home. It was peaceful but charged, neither woman knowing exactly how to be despite the joy they felt at being near each other again.

"I feel kind of bad about you staying here," Gail said, pulling two beers from the fridge as she subconsciously checked the apartment, hoping no roommates were lurking in the shadows. "The guys are pigs."

"Gail, it's fine. No one's even home right now," Holly smiled her signature Holly smile as she took the proffered beer.

"Oh, but they will be," Gail chuckled, sitting at the counter, unsure if couch-time was appropriate just yet. "Chris is a slob and Dov is...Dov. He's even mopier than usual now that Chloe dumped him."

"But didn't that just happen last night?" Holly asked, eyebrow quirked.

"Okay, Dov's mopier since Chloe's been in the process of breaking up with him for three months," Gail corrected.

Holly shrugged. "Well I don't want you to worry about me staying here. If they get too frat-boy-ie then we can go stay at a hotel," she grinned before wondering if it was the wrong thing to say. She hadn't meant it to imply anything...inappropriate, though she'd be lying if she said she hadn't thought about it. They still had yet to discuss what they were, what this visit meant. She knew they couldn't dance around it for long.

"You, uh, you really threw me for a loop, Lunchbox," Gail told her, shaking her head softly as she stared at the woman she loved. She suddenly wished they were on the couch.

"That was pretty much the plan," Holly smiled, reaching across the counter and taking Gail's hand in her own.

"What do you mean?"

"You were actually surprised, you know? You should've seen the look on your face," Holly said, eyeing the cozy living room without realising it.

"Gee, thanks," Gail shook her head, remembering the shock and rise of blood pressure she felt upon seeing the woman.

"I mean, I needed an honest reaction," Holly admitted, sipping her beer. "If I would have told you that I was coming ahead of time you would have worried and over-analyzed and gotten all _Gail_ about it. I couldn't give you a chance to put your defenses up before I even got here," she concluded softly.

Gail laughed sincerely.

"You know me so well," she rolled her eyes because Holly was exactly right. "What kind of reaction did you expect me to have, Holly? You think I'd be anything but ecstatic to see you?" she smiled.

"I hoped you'd be happy," Holly said, staring into Gail's crystal eyes. "We haven't really had a chance to talk about what we _are,_ or if we are anything. I didn't want to scare you away."

"I think..." Gail inhaled deeply, squeezing Holly's hand, "I think my days of being scared away from you are long over."

Gail leaned in to Holly instinctively. Whether her brain would over-think or fear or worry, her body knew that Holly was the answer no matter what the question. Holly met her lips hesitantly. She was only hesitant for a moment. They kissed softly, slowly, pouring every ounce of emotion and months of being lost without each other into it. They only pulled apart because they were both smiling too widely to continue.

"So..." Holly closed her eyes, her body overwhelmed by the feeling of Gail so near her, as she used to be, "we are still _something_?" she asked hopefully, resting her forehead against Gail's.

"We were always something, Holly. There was never a moment, no matter how far away you were, that we weren't. Not to me, anyway," Gail told her, smiling softly as she kissed her again, feeling the heart-pounding excitement of a teenager with their first love.

"You have no idea how glad I am to hear that," Holly admitted, letting out the breath she had been holding.

"Eleven days..." Gail said wistfully, nearly inaudibly.

"Eleven days," Holly repeated, looking into Gail's eyes that had joyful tears building behind them. "For now."

XXX

Though Chloe was energetic and bubbly, discussing their evening and Gail's 'heart-eyes', Frankie had become quiet and contemplative on their short drive to Chloe's apartment. Chloe had certainly noticed but decided not to read too much into it, hoping that it was as simple as the woman being tired after a long work day.

They pulled into the lot and Frankie put her car into park, turning to look at Chloe, a little less closely than she had been recently.

"I guess I'll see you for dinner tomorrow?" Frankie asked, hesitation and question in her voice, not quite meeting Chloe's bright eyes.

"You getting sick of me, Cranky?" Chloe asked, her tone silly even though her heart began to pound nervously at the woman's demeanor, not the butterfly-nervousness the detective usually stirred in her.

"Never," Frankie told her honestly, smiling shyly.

"Then come up with me," she said boldly, still unsure what Frankie was feeling but more than willing to get to the bottom of it.

Frankie rubbed her sweaty palms against her jeans and kept her mouth shut, unsure how to respond in her current state. She didn't know what was making her nervous _tonight_ , after everything that she and Chloe had already been through. Frankie had stayed over at Chloe's a few times now, under different circumstances, and nothing but light snuggling had ever transpired (aside from the stomach-touching incident, which she needed to push to the back of her mind in this current moment). Why was she apprehensive _now_?

The detective felt the eyes of her friend boring into her, awaiting an answer, a reaction of any kind. When Chloe had told her to come up it had been a statement, not a question. Her sudden certainty only made Frankie's anxiousness worse. Something had changed between them even though they hadn't had a chance to discuss it yet. Chloe being with Dov had created a sort of protective buffer around them, keeping anything from happening no matter how much the women wanted it to. That buffer was gone now, along with any excuses (aside from the run of the mill fear of getting her heart broken) Frankie had to keep herself in check.

As if reading Frankie's mind, Chloe spoke up softly.

"What are you afraid of?" she asked softly, still staring at Frankie's face as she reached across the center console and laced her fingers with the woman's, throwing caution to the wind and causing a surge to run through her own veins.

"Messing this up."

It was the first time that Frankie had admitted it out loud, even to herself. The Dov-buffer made things easy, keeping her at just enough distance to not be afraid of what might be. Now the walls were down and they weren't skirting around the idea of a 'them' anymore. Frankie's honesty and vulnerability only made Chloe want her more.

"You've pretty much let me take the lead with this the whole time, haven't you?" Chloe acknowledged, decided that Frankie's honesty needed some in return. Frankie nodded slowly, meeting Chloe's eyes. "Are you starting to have trouble with that now?" she asked, a small, flirtatious smile crossing her features.

"No," Frankie shook her head, not wanting Chloe to think that her hesitation was in any way pressure to push Chloe into anything she wasn't ready for. "I mean, maybe, but you know I'd never act on it," she admitted.

"Why not?" Chloe challenged, her voice raspy and causing the cool surge to run through Frankie's body again.

"Because, I-" Frankie chuckled uncomfortably, not accustomed to allowing herself to be so vulnerable. "I don't want to scare you away. This is...new, and I don't just mean new to you. Whatever this is, it's different. The ball is totally in your court, Chloe," she told her, squeezing her hand gently.

"You big softie..." Chloe teased, poking Frankie in the ribs.

"Shut up," Frankie laughed.

"Your respectfulness is kind of hot, though," she grinned.

"Oh _is_ it?" Frankie flirted back as a blush crept onto her cheeks, discomfort dissipating now that things were coming out into the open.

"Yep," Chloe nodded, still smiling. "And if you don't mind I'd like to take the ball and the court upstairs to my apartment now."

XXX

Gail inhaled sharply, sighing contentedly. The move to the couch had come naturally, amid messy kisses and trips over end tables. She looked into Holly's eyes and decided that all the over-thinking that she had been doing was totally overrated. Just _feeling_ , running with her emotions and allowing herself the freedom to just _be_ with Holly was worth far more than protecting herself.

"What are you thinking about?" Holly asked quietly, running her hand through Gail's hair and attempting to pull her gaze from the woman's lips.

"This," Gail smiled softly, motioning between them. "It's so easy. It's... it'll always just be _me_ , you know?" she asked, hoping that Holly understood the sentiment that she was having trouble verbalizing.

"Are you calling me easy, Officer?" Holly joked, running her fingertip down Gail's neck, causing the woman's eyes to close at the electricity between them.

"I love you."

The words slipped from Gail's lips before she had a chance to question them. There _was_ no question. Whether it was appropriate to say it right now was irrelevant. It was the only thing Gail had ever truly known as fact.

"I love you, Gail," Holly replied breathlessly, the joyful, overwhelmed tears returning to her eyes.

When their lips met, this time there was no hesitation. There was no question, no fear. Nothing but Gail and Holly, as they always had been and always would be. There was an extra, unbelievable passion between them that came from longing to be together all this time. Gail pulled Holly closer, as near as possible, holding on to her for life. No matter what happened going forward she knew that she would not allow herself to lose this woman again. Her love, her life itself depended on it.

XXX

Cozy Chamomile. It seemed like a good, necessary idea in order to calm herself down. Peeking into the living room at Frankie, who was perched on the edge of the couch, leg shaking, it seemed like a good idea for her, too. Chloe's heart was pounding. She could feel the blood rushing through her, could hear it reverberating in her temples. It was nerve-wracking but exciting, like standing on the edge of a cliff or jumping out of a plane, or any other cliche that Chloe had never quite understood until now.

"Hey Frankie?" Chloe called into the living room, still peeking at her friend who was visibly unable to relax. She didn't like the idea of the detective sitting there over-analyzing as she waited for the kettle to boil.

"Hmm?" Frankie acknowledged, barely, glancing over the divider into the kitchen.

"Come 'ere a minute," she called, watching as Frankie looked around nervously before slowly rising to her feet.

It never _seemed_ like the kettle took this long before. Maybe there was something wrong with the stove? Chloe leaned nearer to the burner, assessing it. Just as she decided that it was all in her head, and realised _just_ how arbitrary the concept of time was, she felt Frankie approach behind her. _Right_ behind her.

"Hi," Frankie said in a whisper, wrapping her arms around Chloe's waist from behind and pulling her slightly nearer.

Chloe's breath caught audibly, startled not by the woman's presence but by the reaction that her body had to it.

"Hi..." Chloe breathed back, her eyes closing naturally as she allowed herself to be pulled into Frankie by the hips.

Well this was...new. Chloe could feel the beating of Frankie's heart in her spine, the rhythm becoming a part of her. The scent and energy of the detective surrounded her in a way that they hadn't quite managed before. She felt herself practically melt into the woman, wrapping her arms around Frankie's and lying her head back onto her shoulder.

"You were too far away," Chloe said quietly, attempting to answer the question of why she had called Frankie into the kitchen- not that Frankie was asking.

"How 'bout now?" Frankie asked, smiling against Chloe's ear as she felt the woman shudder in her arms.

"Hmm..." Chloe mused playfully. "Still maybe a little bit too far..."

"Is that so?" Frankie asked, brushing her lips just behind Chloe's ear, listening to every sharp breath that she took and beginning to tremble herself.

Chloe attempted an audible response but only a brief, fragmented consonant sound escaped her lips. Frankie placed one lingering kiss on the sharp line of Chloe's jaw and felt the woman's hands tighten around her wrists. She felt Chloe's heart rate increase and watched the steam pouring out of the kettle, her head swimming as though she was in a dream.

"Chamomile to calm yourself, eh?" Frankie smiled, nudging Chloe's temple with her nose.

"Yeah, so much for that."

XXX


	19. Chapter 19

_Thank you all so much for your time and support. Sorry, this one is a bit short but I couldn't get it out of my head. Plus, y'all deserved some smoochies. Let me know how you're liking it. More to come soon._

The clock ticked slowly in the dim, moonlit room, unable to keep pace with Gail's heart rate and much less loud. Gail didn't realise that she was smiling until she opened her mouth to speak, her eyes focused on the curve of Holly's hip sticking out from her bed sheet. She _did_ realise that Holly was smiling too- not a smirk, not a grin- a peaceful, languid smile.

Now that they were so near it seemed impossible to detach, bare skin touching from entwined legs to arms wrapped around each other. Gail had no intention of changing that any time soon.

"So we're totally cancelling dinner tomorrow, right?" Gail asked with a smirk, her lips drawing across Holly's shoulder as she spoke. "Because I don't plan on moving."

"First of all, it's technically dinner _today_ ," Holly corrected, the red neon lights of the clock projecting 4:22 AM. "And second, we probably shouldn't."

Gail whined aloud, burying her face into Holly's neck and pulling her closer, the sheet getting pushed aside in the process.

"Why did we agree to that torture!"

Holly laughed happily, nibbling on Gail's jaw casually.

"You told me you're mastering this whole 'good friend' thing, right? That's why."

"Holly, I can be a _fantastic_ friend from right here, naked in this bed with you," Gail said triumphantly, her fingertips skirting over the woman's abdomen.

"A fantastic friend to _me_ ," Holly teased.

"Damn right," Gail nodded.

"But we should go to dinner with them. It'll be nice."

"Nice for who?" Gail asked, wondering why Holly had to be so _caring_ all the time, smiling because she loved that about her.

"It might be sexy to see you as a supportive friend," Holly wagged her eyebrows.

"Oh, it's not sexy. Believe me. I've lived it," Gail grinned. "It's obnoxious. And the last thing that I feel like doing while I have _you,_ here in my _bed_ , is go on some big gay double date with a bunch of babies."

Holly laughed loudly, shaking both of their bodies.

"I'm most attracted to you when you're being a petulant child," Holly said sarcastically.

"Ooh, 'Big-Word Holly.' That's what I call you when you're not around," Gail kept up the act, smiling uncontrollably the entire time.

"Hey, don't knock it," Holly grinned, giving Gail a peck on the lips. "'Big-Word Holly' won you over the first time we met."

"You're not wrong," Gail chuckled. "But 'Petulant-Child Gail' won you over."

XXX

Chloe glanced out of her periphery at the elephant-sized couch cushion of space between herself and Frankie. A barely audible infomercial playing on the TV cast the living room in a pale blue light. Her body was still literally shaking from the kitchen encounter and she fidgeted and readjusted her position every few moments in hopes of keeping Frankie from noticing that fact.

Frankie's mind was reeling. Her eyes remained focused on the too-perky infomercial hosts on the screen. She knew that if she made eye contact with Chloe she would be toast. She wondered what the muppet was thinking about, staring off into space, unable to sit still like a hyperactive child. Frankie wondered if she had been too bold, gone too far, which she had been trying desperately to avoid for months.

Cozy chamomile slid down Chloe's throat and she self-consciously worried that Frankie had heard her swallow in the quiet of the room. Chloe had never been shy about physical intimacy before, with anyone. She had always been the first to make a move, often too quickly, and she had never regretted it. She wondered why things were different _now_.

Dov and Chloe had sex the first time they met. Chloe never felt like it was a mistake; she was only running with the connection that she felt with him. The connection that she felt with Frankie was an entirely different being. She was drawn to the woman, physically as well as emotionally, but it was unlike any attraction that she had ever felt before. Instead of jumping in head first, this time she tip-toed. All of her other relationships were fleeting in Chloe's mind. If she fell off the tightrope with Frankie she feared that she would be lost for good.

Chloe took a deep breath, sighing aloud. She was frustrated with herself, despite the nerves that were still swimming in her belly. Frankie was like a magnet to her and it was becoming increasingly difficult to fight the pull. She chanced a glance at Frankie, seeing the woman already looking in her direction. The look of softness, vulnerability and _so much_ care emanating from her gave Chloe the strength to finally speak.

"I really, _really_ want to kiss you. Like so much it _actually_ hurts. And I think I'm too scared to do it. But that's like really weird because I've never been scared to kiss anyone before and it's not because you're a woman, you know? It's because you're Frankie and kissing you isn't like kissing anyone else. It's you. And it's bigger than anything I've ever felt before and it's paralysing me but it's like _killing_ me to just sit here and not be kissing you. You know?" Chloe inhaled, in need of well-deserved oxygen after her nervous rant.

Waiting for a response was proving to be more frightening than just kissing the girl.

"It scares me, too."

Well _that_ was not what Chloe expected to hear.

"Well I guess that means we're _never_ gonna kiss. And I don't know about you, but I am really _not_ okay with that," she sighed, resting her head onto the back of the couch and looking at Frankie out of the corner of her eye. "Do you want to kiss me as much as I want to kiss you?" she asked, hoping that she already knew the answer.

"It actually hurts to not be kissing you, Muppet," Frankie smiled softly, lacing her fingers with Chloe's across the empty cushion between them. "I can't sit still and I can't focus because _all_ I can think about is kissing you. But like I said, it's your ball. And if you're not ready-"

"I am _so_ ready," Chloe breathed out.

"Come 'ere," Frankie whispered, pulling Chloe by their entwined hands.

Chloe scooted closer slowly, heart threatening to beat out of her chest at any moment. She set her tea cup on the coffee table before taking Frankie's cup out of her hands and placing it there as well. She folded herself into Frankie's side, as she had so many other times before, nuzzling her face into the skin of the woman's neck and breathing in deeply.

Frankie brushed the hair away from Chloe's face instinctively, pulling back enough to just look at the girl. She ran her fingertip over the scar on Chloe's neck, watching her eyes flutter shut as they had before. Without allowing herself to overthink it, Frankie leaned down slowly, brushing her lips over the scar, allowing them to linger there.

The sound that Chloe emitted was something between a sigh and a moan and was more intoxicating than Frankie ever could have imagined. Unrestrained and completely instinctive, the moan caused Frankie to feel her blood rushing throughout her body, her eyes not leaving Chloe's face until it was too close to remain focused.

Chloe dragged her lips over Frankie's before she even realised that she was moving, all caution and nervousness gone after the feeling that Frankie had just created within her.

 _Finally_.

Frankie moved slowly, tentatively, allowing Chloe to completely set the pace of the kiss in spite of her desire for the girl. Her hands remained still though her body was tingling, aching to touch her.

Had she had the presence of mind, Chloe would have imagined fireworks, sparks, all of the fire-type cliches that people talked about when such a strong connection with another individual existed. Of course, she didn't. After kissing Frankie for merely a few seconds, tentative softness would not suffice. She brushed the hair away from Frankie's face, parting her lips just enough to pull one of Frankie's between them. Her palm traced the line of Frankie's jaw, holding her near as she deepened the kiss.

The confidence acted as a permission for Frankie, whose fingertips traced Chloe's scar again before traveling to the back of her neck, into her hair, pulling her closer. As the softness of their tongues finally met, a soft moan echoed through them and Chloe wasn't sure if the sound came from one or both of them.

That was it. Toast.

Chloe anchored herself with one hand on Frankie's shoulder, the other remaining on the woman's jaw. They were kissing slowly, deeply, and Chloe wasn't sure how much she could handle. This feeling was unlike any she had ever experienced and it was only the beginning.

Breathing heavily, they pulled apart slowly, barely able to tear themselves away. For a long moment they stared into each other's wild eyes, unable to regain their composure.

"Shit!" Chloe said suddenly, quietly, standing from the couch wide-eyed.

It wasn't a reaction of regret, only of awe and disbelief that such a feeling could exist. It was as though she had just uncovered the secrets of the universe and the information was just too much for a simple human brain to handle. She paced in front of the table, wiping her sweaty palms on her thighs as she mumbled something to herself.

Chloe was freaking the hell out.

"I can't believe..." she said, turning to Frankie (who was a dazed lump on the couch) suddenly. "Jesus Christ. Did it...? Is that _normal_? I mean, I never... Shit, Frankie!" she stuttered out.

Frankie smiled widely, looking up at the overwhelmed girl lovingly. She rose from the couch, wrapping her arms around Chloe and pulling her close.

"That chamomile really did the trick, huh?" Frankie chuckled quietly, kissing Chloe's temple and effectively calming her.

"There's not enough chamomile in the world," Chloe grumbled. "Seriously, is that _normal_?"

"No, it's not normal," Frankie smiled, kissing her cheekbone, just below her eye, and causing her breath to catch. "It's amazing. _You're_ amazing."

"But... I never..." Chloe was still in residual shock though she was taking in Frankie's comfort. "Why has it never felt like that before?" she asked, gazing into the woman's eyes.

"It never felt like that for me, either," Frankie smiled, feeling more comfortable, happier, than she ever had in her life.

Chloe's lips were on Frankie's before either of them realised, again. She smiled through their kisses, holding the woman by her hips. The energy between them evolved but never faltered, growing from sweet and loving to intense and fiery once again. The feeling of Frankie's hands on her neck and jaw fueled Chloe, igniting a fire that she was unaware of until now.

Gail was right, Chloe thought. She wasn't going to see them for _weeks_.

XXX


	20. Chapter 20

_Here's a short little fluff for you. I apologise for it's length; I just try to post them whenever I have them done. I hope y'all are still liking it. Let me know. Also I have some ideas floating around for other stories that I would love some opinions on, if any of you would be so kind. Thanks again._

"But I don't want to! You can't make me!" Gail whined loudly, pulling the sheet up over her face to block the sunlight.

Holly's laugh in response was loud and sincere enough to make Gail peek one eye over the top of her hideaway blanket and smile.

10 A.M. had come quickly. Sleep hadn't won them over until well after six in the morning. They had made love endlessly (at one point Gail joked that they had done it more in that one evening than the entirety of their relationship- Holly quickly corrected her) and stared into each other's eyes until they finally succumbed to their exhaustion. Now the shining sun and the dish-clinking of roommates from the kitchen stole them from their reverie.

"Gail, sweetie..." Holly said softly, entwining their fingers and giving the woman her sweet puppy dog eyes. "We said we'd have dinner with them. You were happy to agree at the time."

" _Excuse me_ , Holly, for not being a mind reader!"

Holly's head tilt prompted Gail to continue.

"I didn't know we'd end up like this!" Gail argued, pointing between them, nakedness and all.

"Like what?" Holly asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Like _us_ ," Gail smiled, kissing Holly soundly, effectively quieting her.

"You think" kiss "you can just" kiss "kiss me and shut me up."

"Yeah, I do," Gail told her seriously. "I would like to skip dinner and continue to shut you up for the rest of the day."

"You can shut me up for the rest of the day," Holly smiled, kissing Gail, "and for _ten more_ days after that. And we can _still_ go to dinner tonight," she concluded, causing Gail's face to fall.

"They probably won't even want us there, Holly," Gail reasoned, pulling Holly on top of her.

"Why wouldn't they? Chloe was pretty quick to invite us," Holly recalled.

"I wonder if they fucked yet," Gail mused, almost to herself.

"Gail!" Holly scoffed, wide eyed.

"What? Do you want me to say 'made love'? Eww," Gail stuck out her tongue, which Holly was quick to capture with her lips.

"Yes, I want you to say 'made love.' 'Fuck' is just so..."

"Dirty? Yeah, that's pretty much what I was going for," Gail smirked.

"They did seem pretty coupley at the bar," Holly shrugged, resting her head on Gail's shoulder and looking into her eyes. "They had to have at least kissed by now."

"I bet they haven't," Gail shook her head. "They're just a bunch of babies."

"I bet they did. You saw how they were looking at each other."

"But you weren't here for the months of them tiptoeing around each other like scared little wusses. Let's bet on it," Gail said, sitting up with a wild look in her eyes.

"Oh, Gail... I don't know," Holly chuckled, pushing her back down to the mattress. "What are we betting?" she asked, eyebrow quirked.

"Hmm..." Gail's expression was that of a little kid in a toy store who was told they could have anything they wanted. "If I'm right and they haven't even made out... we stay in a hotel the _rest_ of the time you're here. And I get to do anything I want to you." Her grin was so wide it looked painful.

Holly raised an eyebrow, perplexed.

"That's so vague. You're losing your touch," she shook her head. "And you can already do anything you want to me, so your loss," she shrugged. Gail grumbled. "If _I_ win, and they have at least made out... you're reporting off work the next two days- and not wearing clothes, at any point, for either of them."

"I don't care if they fucked or not. This is a win-win."

XXX

Big, sleepy eyes gazed out the window calmly, the feeling of Frankie's fingertips drawing up and down Chloe's side nearly putting her in a trance. She blinked heavily and smiled, resting her head back down onto Frankie's stomach. As her cheek made contact with the smooth skin, she thought back to the stomach-touching incident and how far they had come after a torturous amount of time.

Sleep was yet to grace them, too consumed with each other to realise. Frankie had vowed that they would 'do this right' and Chloe was glad for it. The night had been spent exploring each other's bodies, shedding much (but not all) of their clothing, taking in every new sensation that Chloe still could not believe was possible. She smiled for the thousandth time and Frankie felt it.

"This is nice," Frankie said, voice raspy, tucking the hair behind Chloe's ear so that she could see her face.

"That is an understatement," Chloe told her directly, wrapping an arm around her hip and pulling her closer, as she would a pillow. "This is _perfect_. This is everything."

"You're too far away," Frankie mumbled, tugging Chloe's hair playfully, drawing their faces together and pulling her into a languid kiss.

"You've ruined me," Chloe said sharply as they pulled apart, eyes still closed. "All I'm going to want now is to just kiss you," she smiled. "And touch your skin," she added, splaying her hand across Frankie's abdomen. "That's it. No work. No sleep. Just you."

"Mmm..." Frankie nodded, kissing Chloe once again.

"Shit!" Chloe said suddenly, breaking away from the woman and slicing open their contented bubble.

"That was...abrupt," Frankie questioned, brow furrowed.

"We invited Gail and Holly over for dinner tonight. Well, _I_ invited Gail and Holly over for dinner tonight, but you were implied," Chloe said quickly, eyes suddenly searching the room for any indicator of time.

"And?" Frankie asked, eyes following Chloe's.

"I don't want them to come over!" Chloe stated, as though that should have been obvious to Frankie.

Frankie laughed so hard that it drew Chloe's attention back to her, only briefly.

"Not now! Now I just wanna do this," she motioned between them, gaze catching Frankie's boy-cut underwear-clad hip and staying there. "How rude would it be to cancel? Can we?"

" _Hell_ yes, we can cancel," Frankie nodded seriously. "I didn't even want them to come over last night, and now..." she grinned, dragging her fingertips across Chloe's mouth slowly. "There are still parts of you that my lips haven't touched yet."

Chloe honest-to-God gulped at the words. The foggy, steamy look in Frankie's eyes didn't help. After last night, Chloe could become turned on just by things Frankie said, and they hadn't even had sex yet. She wondered if she'd be turned on for the rest of her life.

"How did I manage to go so long without kissing you?" Chloe mumbled between kisses, pulling herself up to straddle Frankie's hips, her hair curtaining their faces.

"You? I was ready to chew off my own arm," Frankie grinned, running her hands down Chloe's back, across her hips, pulling their bodies together and watching Chloe's eyes flutter.

"Nice image, Cranky," Chloe joked. "Thanks for that."

Frankie shrugged, nuzzling Chloe's neck before running her teeth over the woman's pulse point. Chloe's breath was immediately ragged, body pressing into Frankie's of it's own will.

"We're never going to get any sleep, ever again," Chloe said, though she moved Frankie's mouth to her own regardless.

"I'm sorry, Muppet. I didn't realise I was keeping you from your beauty rest," she teased, pushing Chloe off of her and rolling over as though to go to sleep.

"Hey!" Chloe whined, poking Frankie in the shoulder blade. "No fair. That's not what I said."

"It sounded like a complaint, Muppet. You ask for sleep, I'll stop distracting you," she grinned, peeking over her shoulder.

"I will never stop being distracted by you," Chloe smiled widely, rolling Frankie back over, half on top of her.

"So should I text Gail and cancel or do you want to?" Frankie asked. She wasn't kidding.

"Ugghhh!" Chloe groaned, throwing an arm over her eyes.

"You still want them to come, don't you?" Frankie asked with her disgruntled face on.

"I don't _want_ them to come… but if we cancel I'll never hear the end of it. You know that..." Chloe said, lip sticking out in sadness.

"Unfortunately-" Frankie pulled Chloe's lower lip between her own, "you're right," she rolled her eyes.

"But..." Chloe's eyes roamed Frankie's body unabashedly, "you're _so close_ to naked and I like it _so much,_ " she whined.

"Wow, Muppet," Frankie said, fighting the rare blush that had crept on to her cheeks, "You were too afraid to kiss me for _months_ and now you're talking about me being naked like it's no big." She couldn't hide her surprise in the girl's demeanor.

"I blame you," Chloe said plainly, pulling Frankie more solidly on top of her. "You kissed me-"

"You actually kissed me."

"And now I'm toast. That's it. Pervy McGee Price, that's what they'll call me. It's all over with now."

"Did you just quote Iggy Azalea?"

"Shh."

"And _no one's_ gonna call you that..."

XXX


	21. Chapter 21

_Hello again. Many apologies, as this is a short chapter and it's been a minute since I've gotten to post. The next chapter (and the actual dinner) are already almost done so I hope to post again soon. I hope y'all are still enjoying this. I love your support and feedback. I would still like to run a few ideas for new stories by you guys. If you see a phantom chapter in the near future, that's why. Anyway, enjoy and let me know what you think._

"But I don't want to!"

"Gail, honey, I feel like we're having this conversation _a lot_ , today," Holly chuckled, pulling on a pair of Gail's sweat shorts. "And I may have fallen for the petulant child, but it _does_ get old."

"Does not," Gail whined.

"I know you don't want to face them but we got exactly two hours of sleep last night-"

"You weren't complaining-"

" _not_ that I'm complaining, and I need coffee. Okay?" Holly smiled, pulling Gail to her and kissing her on the head.

"Yeah, yeah... Coffee..." Gail grumbled.

Gail opened the door of her bedroom and peeked one eye into the apartment. It appeared to be empty from her vantage point but she could still hear a faint clinking from the kitchen. She sighed and exited the room.

"Geez, Gail. I thought you were dead in there," Chris called from the kitchen, before his roommate was in view. "But I thought I heard _giggling_ and you never make that sound unless-"

As soon as Chris and Dov saw Holly, they froze, mouths open.

"Holly!"

Both men shouted at once, rising from their respective kitchen seats and greeting the smiling woman. Gail rolled her eyes but she was secretly happy with the exchange.

"Holy crap, Holly! This is awesome," Dov smiled, hugging the woman.

"You didn't even tell us she was coming," Chris said, slapping Gail's arm affectionately as they all sat at the counter.

"I didn't know. She surprised me," Gail told them, unable to hide her smile.

"This is so cool," Dov said, pouring each of the women a much appreciated cup of coffee. "So are you back-back, or just back?"

"Just back, for now," Holly told them, grinning at Gail. "I'm here for just over a week and then...we'll see what happens."

"That's great," Chris smiled. "We gotta go out tonight and celebrate."

"We have plans tonight," Gail spat out carelessly, drawing the attention of all three unintentionally.

"Plans to spend another eleven hours in your room," Dov rolled his eyes and laughed.

"You know what? That sounds great, actually. Good idea," Gail nodded, bumping Holly's shoulder. "We are _so_ staying at a hotel..."

xxx

"Mozzarella or Provolone?" Chloe asked absently, perusing the dairy kiosk.

"Wine."

"Well _duh_ ," Chloe grinned, bumping Frankie's hip. "Which one goes better with wine?"

"Cheese."

"Frankie!" Chloe whined at the detective's indecision- and indifference.

"It's _cheese_ , Muppet. It goes with wine. It's cheese," she reasoned, putting a finger through Chloe's belt loop and smiling.

"You make a fair point," Chloe swooned, leaning in to Frankie naturally before remembering that they were at the grocery store- in public.

Domesticity was feeling pretty good to Chloe, though this was the first taste of it she'd had with Frankie. Going to the grocery store to pick up dinner ingredients had just sounded like a mundane experience until they were actually in it. Chloe found herself drawing nearer to the woman as they walked and shopped, the same way she would if they were in private. She wasn't scared or ashamed; she worried that she should be.

Frankie noticed Chloe's demeanor change and chose not to comment on it. It was the first time that they were out together since they were 'together' (if they _were_ 'together', but that was a conversation for another time) and she was understanding of the new-ness of it all. If Chloe wasn't ready to be all Pride Parade in public, Frankie got it.

"Is that Miss Chloe?"

Frank was already smiling sincerely when Chloe turned to realise that it was indeed his familiar voice. Noelle stood next to him, grocery cart and Olivia in tow.

"Uncle Frank!" Chloe smiled, hugging him immediately. "I haven't seen you forever," she said, hugging Noelle and grinning at Olivia.

"Who are you telling, Chloe?" Frank smirked.

"You don't call, you don't write..." Noelle added light-heartedly.

"I know. I'm sorry," Chloe told them sincerely. "Things have been crazy as usual."

"The division still treating you well?" he asked, inadvertently eyeing Frankie, who was awkwardly standing behind Chloe and pretending to study the cheeses.

Chloe smirked at Frank's silent assessment.

"Uncle Frank, Noelle, you remember Frankie Anderson," Chloe nodded toward the woman, pulling the reluctant woman into the conversation.

"Hey," Frankie smiled uncomfortably, nodded at them both.

"Nice to see you, Detective," Frank greeted politely. "Well we have a lunch play-date with a few neighbours, so we better be going," he said, hugging Chloe once again. "Stay in touch, will you?"

"I will, Uncle Frank," Chloe promised. "It was so great to see you."

If Frank noticed the mouth-shaped bruise on the side of Chloe's throat, he didn't act like it.

xxx

"Fresh toothbrush," Gail presented proudly, handing it over to Holly after rummaging through her closet.

"Thank you, madame," Holly smiled, taking the gift happily. "I can't believe I forgot to get my stuff," she rolled her eyes, poking Gail with the toothbrush.

"Forgot, huh? I think you were just in too much of a hurry to get back here and-"

"Where's your stuff?" Dov asked, accidentally in the conversation due to proximity, not invitation.

"Oh, it's at Chloe's," Holly told him honestly. However awkwardly the conversation may go, she wasn't a liar. "She helped me with my surprise visit."

Gail's discomfort was palpable. She stood back silently and waited to see where this would go.

"That's fun," Dov nodded, obviously wanting to say more than he was. "So you're gonna have to borrow Gail's stuff before you pick up your luggage," he laughed at the image.

"Holly won't share my things," Gail grinned.

"Looks like I'm going to have to make an exception," she laughed.

"Oooh, does that mean I get to dress you for dinner?" Gail clapped excitedly, Dov rolled his eyes.

"I don't know, Gail. Lack-of-backpack doesn't look good on me," Holly smiled, squeezing Gail's hand.

"So you're going to Chloe's tonight?" Dov asked, acting casual, lingering in the hallway obviously.

"Yeah. She invited us over for dinner," Gail explained with as little detail as possible.

"Good thing, too. I can't go wearing your clothes for long," Holly teased.

"Have you met Frankie yet?"

Any nonchalance that Gail and Holly feigned was gone, both heads whipping up and toward Dov at the surprising (and sudden) question.

"Uh, yeah, I did. Last night," Holly told him, looking to Gail for back-up pleadingly.

"Oh..." Dov nodded, trying hard to act indifferent and failing. "She's pretty cool, considering," he decided, looking between the two uncomfortable women.

"Yeah, she seemed nice," Holly offered casually.

"Nice?" Dov laughed thickly. "I don't know about _nice_ but she's alright. You know, it's funny, we actually got along really well back when she was spending a lot of time here."

Gail's eyes widened, heart-rate increasing nervously at the comment. What Holly would read from it, she wasn't sure. No matter the reaction, this would open a can of worms that Gail was not sure she knew how to shut.

So many questions. Why was Dov bringing this up in the first place? Yes, he was recently dumped and obviously fishing for information, but was he really that much of a glutton for punishment? Gail hadn't mentioned Frankie much (if at all) before she and Chloe had begun their tentative romantic dance. Frankie spending time at the frat house seemed questionable unless she was there with Chloe, which was weird on a whole different level.

"That's...good," Holly said finally, unsure what response Dov was expecting.

"Of course, we didn't get along as well as she and Chloe did," he said harshly. "But I guess that's obvious."


	22. Chapter 22

_Here we go, friends. Apologies for the wait (and for the non-sexual tension in this chapter). I have more planned for the future but I'd like your take on where I'm going with this. Please let me know if you're still interested or if this story has run it's course. All criticism is welcome and encouraged. Thanks for all of your support. Happy holidays._

Chapter 22

 _'"_ _With the taste of your lips I'm on a ride..."'_

 _"'You're toxic. I'm slipping under...'"_

Strawberry-shaped slippers slid across the kitchen linoleum with ease as Chloe stirred and sang, Frankie beaming, eyes smiling.

"You know, Cranky, you're lucky," Chloe said suddenly, pulling Frankie from her daze.

"We're listening to Britney Spears. I'd have to disagree," Frankie joked, stepping up behind Chloe and wrapping her arms around her waist.

"If we had more notice, you _know_ we'd be making Piri Piri right now," Chloe grinned, looking over her shoulder to find Frankie staring at her face from less than an inch away.

"That only means I'd have more time to watch you cook," Frankie wagged an eyebrow, nibbling behind Chloe's ear and causing the stirring to cease momentarily.

"'Watch' being the operative word..." Chloe attempted to joke back, the pull in her abdomen from Frankie's teeth on her neck causing her teasing to lose it's luster.

"You have a hickey!" Frankie said suddenly, pulling away with a wild grin.

"What?! Where?" Chloe asked, wide-eyed, feeling both sides of her neck as though it would be any indicator.

"Here..." Frankie touched the large, purple spot and began to dance happily.

"Ha! I'm glad you're so amused by this!" Chloe scoffed, looking in the reflection from the toaster to see the bruise.

"I am _so_ amused by this. It's very amusing," Frankie nodded, looking at it more closely.

"Why?!" Chloe asked, unable to hold back her laughter.

"You know how long I've wished that I could be leaving marks on you?!" Frankie spat out, immediately furrowing her brow at how strange it sounded. Chloe's questioning face mirrored it. "I mean... That sounded weird," she mused.

"You imagined leaving marks on me, huh?" Chloe teased, pushing Frankie against the counter by her hips and watching the rare blush on her features. "What else did you imagine?" she questioned, nudging Frankie's chin with her nose and causing the woman to look into her eyes.

"I can't tell you," Frankie whispered, running her hands around the belt-line of Chloe's jeans and pulling the woman's hips into her own.

"Why not?" Chloe asked quietly, eyes closed.

Frankie smiled at the reaction before leaning in to Chloe's ear, ghosting the shell with her lower lip. "Because you wouldn't be able to handle it."

Chloe's hips moved into Frankie's, the aching twist that the woman caused in her abdomen taking on a life of it's own. That had been happening _a lot_ today.

"Try me," Chloe whispered, hands grasping at Frankie's hips almost wildly.

 _KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK...KNOCK KNOCK_

"God damn cliche fucking bad timing..."

Chloe grumbled, walking away from Frankie (and in the opposite direction of the door) as she smoothed her hands down her jeans. Frankie laughed loudly, fighting her own arousal and irritation. She blamed herself.

"Answer the door!" Chloe yelled from her bedroom, sounding aggravated and only making Frankie laugh harder.

"Yes, dear," Frankie sang back, rolling her eyes.

"Lover's quarrel?" Gail joked as Frankie opened the door.

"Nope," Frankie grinned fakely. "Just poorly-timed company," she laughed.

"Hi, guys," Chloe said happily, her calm face taking the place of her arousal-laden, blush-tinted one.

"Thanks for having us over," Holly smiled, hugging Chloe politely. "I brought wine," she added, handing the bottle over to Chloe.

"I brought Whisky," Gail piped up, shoving the bottle in Frankie's direction.

"Good thing I'm cooking," Chloe laughed, heading toward the kitchen.

"Chloe's got a hickey!" Gail practically shouted, eyes wide and tone full of child-like excitement. "Ha!" she poked Holly in the chest. "I win the bet!"

Holly was almost laughing too hard to correct her.

"Actually, you _lost_ the bet," Holly grinned, tilting her head in an attempt to see the mark on the now-blushing Chloe.

"I don't even care. Chloe's got a hickey," Gail said, sounding proud and immediately fist-bumping Frankie, who shook her head.

"I hate you," Chloe said quietly, scowling at Frankie as she covered her neck with her hand. "Where's the Whisky?"

XXX

"So, Holly," Chloe began, sipping her wine and fighting the smirk on her face, "I noticed that you forgot to pick up your suitcase." She eyed the woman's attire shamelessly.

"You didn't notice shit," Gail piped up, grinning wickedly over her whisky glass. "You were too busy thinking about getting in Frankie's pants to notice anything."

"I noticed that your girlfriend's wearing _your_ scumbag clothes," Chloe shot back, raising an eyebrow in challenge.

Gail only glared for a moment.

"That's fair," Gail nodded, raising her glass to Chloe.

"They're not _that_ bad," Holly decided, looking down at the worn black polo shirt and jeans. "I mean, pretty stereotypical lesbian attire," she teased.

"I learned from the best, Lunchbox," Gail grinned, blowing a kiss.

"Peck, you charmer. 'Lunchbox' is probably the sweetest nickname I've ever heard," Frankie joked, causing Gail to scoff.

"You call yours 'Muppet!'" she argued, shaking her head as the whisky flowed. "How is lunchbox any worse than muppet?!"

"We really lucked out with these two," Holly chuckled, clinking her glass with Chloe. "Where'd 'muppet' come from, anyway?" she inquired, glancing at Frankie.

"She's a muppet," Frankie answered, directly. "Just...everything about her. When I first met Chloe, I thought someone like her couldn't exist in real life. So she's a muppet."

"Well that's...sweet," Holly smiled at Frankie's uncertain explanation.

"I don't mean it to be sweet," Frankie told her, honestly. "Like, her eyes are giant, she has this whole positive, great outlook on life."

"As muppets often do," Gail joked quietly.

"All this time I thought it was a term of endearment," Chloe stuck out her lower lip sadly.

"She lies, too," Frankie chuckled, reaching over and squeezing the woman's hand instinctively. "Muppet, you _know_ I called you that just to make fun of you until-" She stopped suddenly, unsure of how to finish the sentiment. Unsure of how she was just about to naturally finish the sentiment.

"Until _what_?" Chloe asked, catching the hesitation.

"Until I adjusted to your muppet-ness," Frankie lied, scrunching up her nose.

"Yeah, yeah," Chloe rolled her eyes, fighting the urge to lean over and kiss the woman and filing away the thought to bring up later- when they were alone.

"You two are cute," Holly said suddenly, grinning at Gail out of habit. "Dov was right, Frankie; You are cool, ' _considering'_." She added the last word with the intention of making fun of Dov, not realising that Chloe and Frankie wouldn't understand. Now all three women were looking at her strangely and she wasn't entirely sure why.

"Dov mentioned Frankie?" Chloe asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Well, yeah. He just asked if I'd met her yet," Holly answered, now understanding that it was seemingly too soon to bring him up in conversation. Chloe and Frankie had seemed so coupley now (and had obviously at least made out) that she thought it a non-issue. "I told him that I had and that you seemed really nice," she addressed Frankie, who looked more uncomfortable than Holly anticipated.

"I bet he had something to say about that," Frankie chuckled thickly, taking a swig of her whisky and catching Gail shifting out of the corner of her eye.

Holly laughed. "He wasn't sure he'd agree with the word 'nice', but he did say that the two of you used to get along pretty well," she nodded.

Frankie shrugged casually, hoping the conversation would end. Her eye-contact with Gail was accidental at best but it made the tension thicker regardless.

"I slept with Frankie."

The sentence was out of Gail's mouth so fast that at first _no one_ was sure that they had heard her correctly. Holly turned to Gail immediately only to find somber, guilty eyes and a look of pure fear crossing her features. Holly realised that she wasn't joking.

"Um..." Holly swallowed hard, staring at Gail's face for any further information. Holly's head was swimming, sinking, and her heart pounded unnaturally in her chest. Speechless didn't begin to cover it. "I... I don't understand," she stuttered out, looking to Chloe this time.

Chloe's large eyes were brimming with tears that were completely out of her control. She wasn't a fan of confrontation in general but this was a new boat. She could feel the guilt radiating off of Frankie, who had gone stiff next to her. Gail couldn't look at anyone. And Holly was looking to _her_. For answers.

"Did you know about this?" Holly asked softly, seeking out the person in the room who she felt was on her page.

"I... um... Gail didn't explain it very well," Chloe croaked out. "But yeah, I did," she sighed, her discomfort and her jealousy meeting in her chest and beginning their battle for dominance. The result was sudden nausea.

"H-Holly, can we please talk about this privately?" Gail asked quietly, sounding like a terrified child.

"Privately?!" Holly scoffed, voice rising uncontrollably. " _You_ blurted it out in the middle of dinner and now you want to discuss it _privately?_ "

Gail squeezed her eyes shut, jaw clenching, realising _just_ how ridiculous it actually sounded.

"I do. Just, can I just explain it to you?" Gail pleaded, watching Holly's eyes soften against her will.

Holly nodded sternly, rising from the table without waiting for Gail as she eyed the rooms down the hall. Gail stood and lead Holly away from the table, pointedly not making eye contact with either of the other women. Her knees shook weakly as she felt the tears building behind her eyes.

XXX

Frankie's head was in her hands before they had even heard Chloe's bedroom door shut. What was this awful feeling? Her stomach was stirring with acid and her eyes were foggy. Her sinuses stung as though she was about to cry. Was this guilt?

"Oh god, Muppet..." she said quietly, looking up to take in Chloe's distressed face. The woman's huge, child-like eyes were suddenly lacking the wonder they usually held, filled now with sadness and trepidation. "I'm so sorry," Frankie said, forcing Chloe to look into her eyes and unintentionally fearing the worst.

"Why are you sorry? It's not like _I'm_ the one who didn't know," Chloe said honestly, though her words still held a distance that made Frankie's insides twitch with nervousness.

"I know but... I just... this wasn't supposed to happen. And I _know_ that you knew but I feel so awful. If I..." Frankie bit her own lip to keep herself from speaking.

"What?" Chloe asked seriously, reaching her hand down to lift Frankie's chin, needing whatever information the woman was omitting.

"I could never do it," Frankie admitted. "I know it was different but if it were _Dov_ or anyone else you'd been with I couldn't be hanging out with them."

"It's not that. I mean, okay, so I _hate_ that you slept with Gail. I really, really fucking hate it," she huffed out, rubbing her eyes and unconsciously pulling away from Frankie. "It's just a weird situation," she concluded, defeated.

"Too weird?" Frankie asked, her voice shaking with fear of the answer.

Chloe smiled. Twisted as it may be, hearing Frankie be that terrified of the prospect of losing her created a joy within her. The simple, uncontrollable reaction made 'them' more real to her.

"Not too weird," Chloe said, still smiling softly. "I hate it. And I really can't think about it without wanting to just smash my fist into something. But if you two hadn't...whatever, then I wouldn't have gotten to know you well enough to fall for you. So I might hate it. But I can handle that."

XXX

"Seriously, Gail?" Holly perched on the edge of Chloe's bed, head in her hands.

Gail was pacing frantically at the foot of the bed, torn between rushing to Holly and trying to ease the tension and being so ashamed of herself that she felt she didn't deserve Holly in the first place.

"I'm sorry, I- It wasn't supposed to happen, but you were gone and I didn't know if you were _ever_ coming back and-"

"You think I'm mad because you _slept_ with someone, Gail?" Holly asked incredulously. "It's not like I didn't expect you to be with anyone while we were apart," she added, giving Gail a false ease of mind. "But I _didn't_ expect you to be with someone that I would _know_. That I'd be having dinner with!"

"I get it," Gail nodded uncomfortably, approaching the bed timidly. "I didn't know that we'd ever be in a situation where you two would know each other," she said sadly.

"So you just weren't going to tell me?" Holly asked, anger gone from her voice and replaced with disappointment.

"We had a fling. And honestly if she was just some stranger I probably wouldn't have told you. But now you know her and I couldn't keep it from you."

"A fling?" Holly asked, raising her eyes to watch Gail wringing her hands. "Not a one-time thing?"

"No. Not a one-time thing," Gail told her honestly, sitting on the bed slowly. "But it never meant anything. We never _cared_ about each other," she told her, unsure if that would make the situation sound worse or better.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner? Why did you wait until we were sitting at god damn dinner with them to blurt it out?!"

"I didn't want you to hear it from someone else," Gail admitted weakly.

"So you waited until you felt like you _had_ to tell me."

"No!" Gail argued quickly before retracting. "Holly, it's not just something you bring up out of nowhere. We've only been together for a day and honestly talking about sleeping with other people was the _last_ thing on my mind."

"You're right," Holly nodded reluctantly. "This is all just so strange, Gail."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"So all that time you were giving me play-by-plays about her and Chloe..." Holly laughed, irritated. "How _does_ Chloe feel about all this?"

"I mean, I'm sure she doesn't _love_ the idea of it," Gail shrugged uncomfortably, realising that she had never really thought about how her friend felt. "Unlike you, she knew about this going in to whatever she has with Frankie. She wouldn't even _have_ anything with Frankie otherwise."

"Oh, so you're a match-maker now?" Holly raised an eyebrow at Gail's positive spin on it.

"No! They just- they used to hate each other. And now they're all puppy eyes. I'm just- I guess I'm glad it served a purpose, you know?" Gail asked through a sigh.

"I feel bad," Holly said suddenly, surprising Gail. "I feel uncomfortable around her now and it's not even her fault. I hate to admit it but neither of you actually did anything wrong."

Gail smiled. For a split second.

"Actually _you_ did something wrong, but it wasn't sleeping with her. It was telling me the way you did," she corrected.

"You're right," Gail nodded. "I shouldn't have blurted it out like that. I just had to tell you."

"You never were great with words," Holly rolled her eyes, watching the relief cross Gail's features. "You're kind of awful with them, actually."

"So does this mean that when Cranky Muppet gets married you won't be my plus one?" Gail chanced a joke, looking up in to Holly's eyes hopefully.

Holly couldn't help but chuckle.

"You're an idiot."

XXX


	23. Chapter 23

_Okay so I'm sorry (or I'm not) but I had to get out one more short chapter before bed. I needed some closure from the previous scenes before moving on to bigger (sexier) things. Again, let me know what you're thinking. I didn't realise it but I guess I'm a feedback whore. Anyway, I'm sorry if you're bombarded by the double update. Thoughts and feelings encouraged :)_

"How many?"

The hotel was nice, the company nicer. Gail and Holly were finally snuggled up (Holly in her own sweatpants now, happily), a quiet calm fallen over them. Guilt and gratitude filled Gail's mind, each aimed in their own, very different ways, at Holly. Holly who had just broken the contemplative silence.

"Women."

It was direct. There was no malice behind it. She _needed_ to know whether she _wanted_ to or not. She didn't need to express that to Gail verbally.

"Just the one," Gail answered without hesitation, entwining her fingers with Holly's lightly.

"Really?!" Holly couldn't hide the shock on her face. Gail wasn't sure if she felt good or bad about that.

"Yeah, really," Gail smiled. "And that one was a fluke."

"Wow..." Holly trailed off, smirk firmly planted on her face. "I expected- I don't know what I expected. But that wasn't it."

"You think I'd be all gay whoring around, Lunchbox?" Gail nudged her, teasing. "You should know better."

"I do know better. But that didn't keep me from wondering about it every few days while we were apart," Holly admitted. "Every time I thought of you, when I was lying in bed, wanting so badly to call you, I wondered if you were with somebody else."

"Why didn't you call me? All the times you thought about it, I mean."

She had wondered that for months, finally had a chance to ask.

"Because it hurt too much," Holly sniffed, lying back onto the king size bed and pulling Gail to lie against her. "No matter what, it hurt. If you were with someone else, even if you weren't; you weren't with _me_ , you know?"

"Boy, do I know," Gail smiled sadly. After a beat, she spoke again. "How many for you?"

"None."

"Oh Jesus Christ, Holly! Please tell me you're lying just to make me feel worse about myself," Gail's tone was serious though she was fighting a chuckle. Holly was _such_ a girl scout.

"Nope, not lying," Holly's crooked smile was so bright that it took Gail's breath away. "I went on a few dates," she shrugged, running her hand through Gail's hair. "I'm not sure if I wanted to prove to myself that it was okay to move on or just remind myself that I couldn't. But regardless, only a few dates."

"You always were the better person, out of the two of us," Gail said, not sadly, just truthfully.

"Yep," Holly teased, beaming, earning a grumble from Gail.

"So I know that we somehow salvaged the evening but..." Gail hesitated, tensing physically, "does this change things for you? How you feel about me?" Her sad, fearful tone had returned.

"Oh, Gail," Holly said softly, pulling the woman's face to her and kissing her softly, lovingly. "I'm not sure that anything could change how I feel about you. I can't help but be selfish; I don't want anyone to have had any part of you because in my head, you were always mine. Even when we weren't together."

"I was _always_ yours. Frankie knew that," Gail told her, discomfort surfacing upon mentioning the other woman's name. "When we started to actually be friends we talked about you a lot. Hell, _everyone_ knew that I wasn't getting over you. I was never _planning_ to get over you."

"You know, I came to Toronto on this visit in hopes of discussing moving back."

Boom. She had finally said it aloud. Gail no longer had to make up the intention in her mind and hope for the best.

"I have a good job in San Francisco and I honestly love it. But my _life_ is here, Gail," she said, overwhelmed with emotion, tears lining her soft eyes once again. "Do you still want to be with me? Do you still want _us_?"

Holly's heart knew the answer. Her mind needed to _hear_ it.

Gail tackled Holly wordlessly, rolling them over and squeezing her so tightly that they melded together, tears and love and hearts all becoming one.

"We were always _us_ , Holly. We always will be."

XXX

"My heart is still pounding, Frankie. You _know_ I don't like tension. I like calm things. And love and puppies and NOT whatever that turned out to be."

Chloe's residual dinner freak out was making Frankie's blood pressure go up. After Gail's confession and her own sudden-onset guilt, she had had enough. The two women had left for the evening after many apologies and a toast to new beginnings. The night had ended as well as could be expected, considering.

"Muppet?" Frankie asked softly, reaching up from her spot on Chloe's couch and waving her arm in the pacing woman's general direction.

"What?!"

Chloe hadn't meant to respond as sharply, as harshly as she did. The evening's tension had become _her_ tension and she was having trouble shaking it.

"Come here, Chloe," Frankie said sternly. Chloe was surprised and slightly disturbed by the way her body reacted to the command.

Without a word Chloe retreated to the couch, where Frankie still had her hand up in waiting. She grabbed Frankie's hand and was pulled down into the cushions, in her spot, hip to hip with the woman.

"Calm down..." Frankie said, so softly that it threw Chloe off. "It was a weird night, for sure, but it ended up okay and it's over now," she said, wrapping her arms around Chloe's shoulders and pulling her against her.

"I know, but-"

"Shh..." Frankie whispered, kissing Chloe's temple, her brow bone, her eyelid, melting her.

"Mmmmm..." Chloe smiled, eyes closed, leaning further into Frankie's kisses.

"Can I tell you something you're gonna hate?" Frankie asked, smirk brushing against Chloe's cheekbone.

"But you just got me all calm..."

"We have to go to work in the morning," Frankie said quietly, disappointment audible. "And I have to go home tonight."

"No..." Chloe said, pouting.

"Not to sound like a total dick, but I'm kind of glad that you're unhappy about it."

Chloe's brow furrowed. "That sounded like a total dick."

Frankie laughed.

"No, baby. I mean because after tonight, I guess... I don't know," Frankie shuffled uncomfortably. "I was worried maybe you would like me less? Or, not care as much, or something?" she shrugged, attempting to pretend her words were casual when they were anything but. "If you're sad that I have to leave then hopefully that's not true."

"You know, Anderson, you're pretty but you're dumb," Chloe said with a grin, leaning in and catching the woman's lips.

"You're dumb," Frankie mumbled, nibbling on Chloe's lip and pulling her closer.

"Do you really have to leave or were you just testing me to see if I still liked you?" Chloe asked against Frankie's lips, her blood pressure rising positively this time.

"Unfortunately..." Frankie ran her fingertips up Chloe's jawline, feeling the woman's pulse increase it's pace. "I actually have to leave." The kiss deepened naturally, Chloe practically crawling into Frankie's lap without noticing. "And did you just say you liked me?" Frankie smiled, pulling her face away enough to look into Chloe's foggy eyes.

Chloe laughed purely and Frankie's heart swelled.

"Context clues, Detective. Heard of 'em?" Chloe joked, nipping Frankie's lips and silently willing her to stay just a _little bit_ longer.

"Nope," Frankie narrowed her eyes in mock concentration. "What's that?"

"You're dumb."

XXX


	24. Chapter 24

_Hey y'all. I'm still here, I swear. Let me know if any of you are. Sorry it's been a while. I hope some of you are still interested. Let me know what you think. Happy MLK day!_

"Price?" Oliver called loudly through the hallway, disturbing Chloe from her mind-fog.

"Oliver?" she asked, nodding in his direction and standing up a bit straighter.

"Peck called off so I want you to work with Traci today. Nothing serious, maybe a little recon," he told her, putting on his serious man-in-charge voice.

"Peck called off?" Chloe asked, her attempt at sounding surprised so pathetic that she heard Frankie laugh from down the hall.

"This is why we don't let you go undercover, Price; you're a terrible actor," Oliver chuckled lightly, watching Frankie laugh behind them. "Why couldn't she have just told me that Holly's in town and she's not coming in? She even made her voice sound scratchy on the phone."

"How'd you know Holly's in town?" Chloe asked honestly, done pretending.

"Um, Chris and Dov work here too," Oliver scoffed. "People talk. You should know by now that it's impossible to keep a secret at Fifteen."

Chloe nodded, defeated, turning instinctively to look at Frankie. Detective Anderson smiled politely, almost unable to keep the love from emanating from her gaze. Chloe bit her lip. Keeping secrets had never been her strong suit. This was going to be impossible.

XXX

"Do you think he bought it?" Gail asked, sipping her coffee and pulling the sheet up to cover her naked form.

"No, Gail. I don't think he bought it," Holly laughed, shaking her head. "First, he's Oliver. Second, your 'sick voice' sounds an awful lot like you 'faking sick voice'. Third, Chris and Dov are there _right now_. You think they didn't start telling people I was in town as soon as they showed up this morning?"

"Geez, Holly. A little full of yourself there, aren't you?" Gail said, flat, her face serious despite the smirk trying to pull at it. "I thought Chloe and Frankie would cover for me."

"And I'm sure they would. But that doesn't matter since Oliver can see right through you," Holly smiled, kissing Gail on the head.

"If you continue to be so logical I'm going to be forced to put on clothes," Gail said sternly.

"You're only hurting yourself there, honey."

XXX

"Unfortunately for you, Price, Peck chose a pretty bad day to call out," Traci smirked, looking up from her desk where a stack of papers loomed.

"Bad good, or bad bad?" Chloe asked seriously, plopping down in the desk chair next to Nash.

"Bad boring. It's going to be mostly desk duty with me today," Traci told her. "What's 'bad good'?" she asked, eyebrow quirked.

"You know, like serious shit. Something dangerous or exhausting but awesome. You know?"

Traci laughed, shaking her head.

"You've been spending too much time with Anderson. She's rubbing off on you."

Chloe's eyes scanned the area upon the mere mention of the woman's name. There she was, standing in the hallway looking all business as usual. Her grey button down and black slacks drew Chloe's eyes down the woman's slender body instinctively. The thought of the detective rubbing off on her crossed her mind. She smiled without realising it.

"Oh yeah?"

"What?" Chloe shot out, eyes snapping back to meet Traci's.

"I was _planning_ to fill you in on the case we're covering but I can't seem to keep your attention," she smirked, having followed Chloe's gaze.

"No. Sorry. I'm all yours," Chloe nodded seriously, trying to ignore her eye's natural pull to the woman across the hall.

"Yeah, we'll see about that."

XXX

"Miss Price," Frankie nodded subtly, perching on the edge of the desk. "How's your day going?"

Frankie couldn't keep the smile from creeping onto her face from simply being near the girl. It was almost two o'clock in the afternoon and the women had yet to have a conversation. Stealthily staring from across the precinct was all they had gotten.

"Oh, ya know..." Chloe grinned widely, looking around the room to assure that no one was paying any mind before sliding her hand across Frankie's. "Could be better."

"Oh?" Frankie asked, head quirking. "How so?"

Their eyes softened upon meeting and gazes stuck, getting lost as they usually seemed to. Frankie splayed her fingers to entwine with Chloe's, the soft, slow motion igniting the electricity between them.

"Will power," Chloe answered soundly, her eyes roaming from Frankie's down to her lips. "Sucks."

"You seem to be pretty good at it, though," Frankie grinned before moving her hand away as Traci approached the desk.

"I'm lying," Chloe said directly.

Frankie smiled sweetly, nodding at the woman as she stood.

"Have a good rest of your shift, Muppet." Her tone was so full of love that it rushed over Chloe like a wave.

"Muppet," Traci repeated, watching as Anderson strolled back out into the hallway. "When did that go from a jab to a term of endearment?"

"What? It didn't. What do you mean?" Chloe asked in a frenzy, eyes jumping from Traci to Frankie and back.

Traci laughed thickly, sitting back in her chair.

"I mean she used to be a jerk to you. Now she calls you Muppet like you're the sweetest thing in her life," she explained.

Traci wasn't being nosy or even implying anything in her question. To Chloe, it seemed that the woman didn't suspect anything out of the ordinary (or romantic) was occurring between them at all. She thought about Traci's words. 'The sweetest thing in her life.' Was she? Chloe wondered. Was she, by default?'

Frankie had never been the type to hold much dear to her; that just wasn't the way she worked. She was realistic and not terribly sensitive. Or at least she had been before Chloe accidentally tripped into her life. Chloe thought about crawling into bed with the woman, or snuggling on the couch. Even pulling her into a warm embrace. Though her thoughts had been more than bordering on inappropriate throughout most of the day (her nice detective clothes didn't help), now she was longing just to hold her. Be near her. Without hiding.

"You are even more space cadet than usual today, Price," Traci laughed. "Good thing Peck isn't here to call you out on it."

"Nah, she's used to it," Chloe answered without hesitation. "You know what? I'm going to text that loser," she nodded seriously, pulling out her phone.

Traci laughed, unsure where Chloe's idea had come from. It was a slow day. She could allow Price to text Gail and talk to Frankie when she could.

'Everyone knows you're lying you big fat loser.' Chloe texted quickly, smiling at her phone as though she was proud of her semantics- for absolutely no reason.

"You calling out her out?" Traci asked, noticing Chloe's smirk.

"Yeah. For being a bad liar," Chloe elaborated. "She told us at dinner last night that she wouldn't be in today. She could have just been honest."

"'Us?'" Traci asked casually, catching the word unintentionally.

"Oh." Chloe caught what Traci was asking and panicked, but only for a moment. Not much could be read from such a simple word, right? And even if she _did_ mean herself and Frankie by 'us', that didn't have to mean anything.

"We had dinner last night at my place. The four of us."

 _Shit._ That made it worse, didn't it? Too obvious? Did Traci guess who 'the four of us' was? It wasn't difficult to deduce. Chloe wondered if her muppet face was over-emoting.

"Price!"

Frankie yelling from down the hall interrupted Chloe's mental overreaction. Chloe caught Traci's smirk as she looked past her, attempting to avoid eye contact.

"Can I run something by you quick?" Frankie finished, peeking her head out from the side of the doorway.

"Be right there," Chloe called back, catching the small squeak in her voice. "I'll, uh, I'll be back in a minute," she nodded to Traci before rising quickly from her chair and heading in Frankie's direction.

Detective Anderson's ankles were crossed on her desk, leaning back into her chair like she was ready for a nap. Her hands were holding up her head and a slight smile graced her lips.

"Hey," Chloe couldn't help but grin upon seeing the woman. "Workin' hard?" she joked, approaching the desk cautiously.

"Slow day," Frankie shrugged. "I was thinking that you should come to my place after shift," she said directly, reaching out for Chloe's hand and pulling the girl to lean against her propped legs.

"Your place? What's the occasion, detective?" Chloe chuckled, her fingers naturally drawing circles over Frankie's knee cap.

"I was just thinking about what you were saying about will power. You're right. It sucks. And you might be pretty good at it but I am certainly not," Frankie grinned, eyebrow raising.

"I know," Chloe sighed with a smile. "Now that we're together I'm finding it impossible not to touch you, even when I can't."

Chloe didn't even notice Frankie stiffen.

" _Are_ we together?" Frankie asked softly, vulnerability audible.

"Oh..." Chloe's eyes widened, worried that her instinctive semantics were a mistake. "I didn't- I mean, I didn't mean that-" She stepped back, her hands beginning to fidget painfully as the back of her neck prickled with nervous perspiration.

"Chloe?" Traci's head poked into the room suddenly causing both women to whip around to face her. "Hey, I gotta run to the morgue to pick up a file. You wanna come with me?"

It was apparent that Traci's question was more of a request than a casual inquiry. Chloe needed to be actually working at work, in spite of anything else.

"Uh, yeah," she nodded awkwardly. "Definitely. I'm there," she added, much too cheerfully.

Frankie's eyes remained on Chloe's nervous face, hoping that the girl would make eye contact with her before disappearing. She knew that her question had frightened Chloe; that was not her intention. They needed to actually stop and discuss this, as soon as possible.

Thankfully Chloe's gaze did cross Frankie's, finding a calm smile there. Frankie narrowed her eyes, seemingly looking more closely at Chloe before she prepared to walk away.

"Wait for me after shift, okay?" Frankie asked softly, boldly, as Traci was still standing right there in the doorway. Her tone was sweet and affectionate and Chloe couldn't help but smile and relax.

"Of course," Chloe exhaled the fear that she had been feeling.

Traci raised an eyebrow curiously.

Neither Chloe nor Frankie noticed, too busy still looking at each other.

XXX


	25. Chapter 25

_Another quick installment. I'm regaining my passion for this piece, the scenes showing up in my brain naturally once again. So I'm going to run with it. I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think._

Gail's lips trailed slowly down Holly's neck, a jutted out collarbone distracting her for a moment. Billie Holiday played softly in the background, complemented only by the breathy sounds that escaped Holly's parted lips.

BEEP BEEP

Gail's text tone rang out into the air, interrupting the moment for the sixth time that afternoon.

"I told you to put it on silent..." Holly grumbled, scowling at Gail through lidded eyes.

"I swear to God, if Chloe texts me _one_ more time I'm going to slit that muppet's throat!" Gail said, livid, sitting up and sending a death glare across the room at her telephone.

"What makes you think it's Chloe?" Holly asked, pulling on her robe and leaning back onto her elbows.

"Because. Everyone else knows I'm _busy_ ," Gail told her, eyeing the phone hatefully.

"Chloe knows you're busy," Holly reasoned.

"Chloe's the only one who doesn't care."

Holly shrugged in reluctant agreement.

"Maybe you should check it. Maybe it's important," she suggested.

"It's not important. It's Chloe."

"Well you're going to have to go over there to get it regardless. Whether you're checking your texts or not, you _are_ putting that thing on silent," Holly said, resolve voice in full force.

Gail grumbled loudly, rolling her eyes as she stood from the bed and made her way over to her phone. Times like this she wished she lived in the past, long before phones, when even if she was dead in the forest somewhere no one would be able to find her unless she wanted them to.

"Look. Guess what? Chloe," Gail spat out, plopping back onto the bed with her phone in hand. "Guess what else? Not important."

2:01PM: 'Everyone knows you're lying you big fat loser.'

2:17PM: 'Oh god. I just said we were in a RELATIONSHIP! A RELATIONSHIP Gail. What am I supposed to do?'

2:18PM: 'Ok I didn't say the word relationship but i said together. I called us together and she asked if we were but I didn't have a chance to answer. Are we together?! We're not apart, Gail!'

2:33PM: 'I'm not a lesbian, Gail! Or at least I never have been before so I don't know what the hell I'm doing. Are we together or not?! Answer me.

2:33PM: 'Not are me and you together. Me and Frankie.'

2:49PM: 'Ok I know you're probably having awesome lesbian sex or something but tell Holly to put your panties on because I NEED YOUR HELP. Frankie wants to see me after work and she'll probably want to have the talk and I need to talk to you before that happens. If it's too soon to be together I need to know so I can say no. But it seems like we ARE together Gail and I don't want to lie to her. Please answer me.'

As Gail read through the barrage of panicky text messages, another came through.

2:54PM: 'I knew I should have texted Holly.'

XXX

Still no messages. Over an hour of panicked reaching out to her so-called friend and no response. It was nearly the end of shift. Chloe and Traci had returned from the morgue and it was time to pack up for the day. Without the advice of _actual_ lesbians, Chloe didn't know how she should react to whatever inevitable talk she and Frankie were about to have.

Leaning back onto her locker, Chloe sighed. She hadn't seen Frankie since before the impromptu morgue visit and she was beginning to get nervous. Okay, not so much _beginning_ to get.

Chloe's phone sounded out in a text tone and she turned her phone over quickly.

3:21PM: 'Where are you? I'm ready when you are.' - F.

Before Chloe had a chance to reply, a strawberry-blond head peeked around the corner of the doorway. She couldn't help but notice the way the detective's expression changed naturally upon seeing her. Traci was right; she really did look at Chloe as though she was the sweetest thing in her life. Chloe smiled at the thought.

"Hi," Frankie said quietly, approaching the woman as she stood at her locker, gathering her things for the end of the day.

"Oh hi," Chloe said, unable to keep the flirtation from creeping into her voice. "How was your shift?"

"Stupid. Boring. Long," Frankie shrugged, reaching an arm out to the woman only to retract it after considering her location. "You ready to get out of here?"

"So ready," Chloe smiled, grabbing her bag and looping her arm with Frankie's as they headed into the hallway.

"I feel like-"

"I'm sorry that-"

They spoke simultaneously, both obviously having their interrupted conversation from earlier in mind. They each stopped and chuckled slightly, stopping in the hall and turning to face one another.

"I guess we're thinking about the same thing, huh?" Chloe presumed upon seeing the rare look of nervousness cross Frankie's features.

"Guess so," Frankie nodded, leaning against the wall, staring at Chloe's face. "And I know this should be like a _conversation_ conversation but I just felt like I scared you before, with my reaction, and I needed you to know that I didn't mean to."

Frankie saying so many words in one shot was a rarity. Unless she was nervous and felt the need to express something that she deemed truly important. That was certainly the case right now.

"I didn't mean to assume-"

"You didn't," Frankie stopped her, not wanting to allow the woman to think for one second that anything she had said or done was wrong in any way. "We _are_ together, Chloe. At least we are to me," she shrugged, biting her lip and stepping away, her vulnerability showing and causing Chloe's heart to race. "I just- I didn't want to push you in to anything. Or make you think that I needed to call it something. You _just_ got out of a relationship, you know? And I didn't want you to think that I needed you to be in another one right away. I just want _you_ , Chlo. Whatever that might mean."

"Ball in my court..." Chloe said softly, looking at Frankie for so long that it forced the detective to finally meet her eyes. "Like always," she smiled.

"Of course," Frankie nodded slowly, staring in to Chloe's huge eyes and hoping that all of her words were getting across everything that she needed them to. Her feelings were much too immense to express with something as simple as _words._ "It's always up to you, Chloe. Like I told you before, I don't want to mess this up. And whatever it takes, I won't."

Chloe felt tears building in the back of her eyes, the emotions she was feeling overwhelming her and needing to become tangible somehow. She ran her hand subtly down Frankie's arm, reaching her wrist and gently brushing her fingers along it. The urge to kiss the woman right there in the hallway of the precinct was becoming so strong that she wondered if she would bother to fight it.

Frankie smiled so big her face hurt, unused to such a work out before having Chloe in her life. She stared at their hands, threatening to entwine, their nearness anything but inconspicuous. She watched as Chloe watched her, the emotion emanating from her mingling with her own energy and charging the air around them.

"You haven't even taken me on a date yet," Chloe teased, pulling Frankie by the wrist and continuing their walk to the exit.

"I haven't," Frankie acknowledged, smirk playing at her lips as Chloe reluctantly broke her hand's contact with the woman. "Muppet, will you go on a date with me?" she asked, serious despite the playful tone between them.

"Nope."

Chloe answered so quickly, without a second's hesitation, that it threw Frankie for a moment.

"Not right now," she amended, bumping Frankie's shoulder as they walked.

"Why not?" Frankie asked, feigning hurt, even putting on her sad puppy face.

"Because right now we need to be somewhere making out," she answered directly, only causing Frankie's smile to grow.

XX

At the end of the hallway, Oliver stood, clipboard in hand. His eyes were naturally drawn to the two women when they had passed him without noticing. He chuckled aloud.

"What?" Traci asked, following his gaze down the hall to the two women exiting the building.

"They'd be a cute couple."

XXX


	26. Chapter 26

_I'm back. I'm hoping anyone is still interested in this story. Sorry it's been a bit. I re-read this piece the other day and just got sucked back into it. Let me know what you think and if you still care. Thank you everyone._

Frankie's apartment was pretty much just how Chloe imagined it; clean, plain and linear. It was direct and logical, much like Frankie herself- no frills. The space didn't have much personality, unlike Chloe's quaint home or the relaxed vibe of the frat house. The white, undecorated walls and beige furniture were meant to serve the purpose of a living space and not anything beyond that.

This fact didn't keep Chloe from exploring.

"Speechless, eh?" Frankie joked, taking Chloe's jacket and hanging it up on the plain, black rack behind the door.

"I'm just taking it all in…" Chloe answered without looking, eyes still roaming the living room and deciding what to check out next.

These kinds of things mattered to Chloe; what a place said about a person, the feel and energy that they emitted. To Frankie, it was just a space in time. It was where she lived, not who she was. She appreciated Chloe's wonder regardless.

"I'll leave you to it, then," Frankie smiled at the woman, taking off her shoes and heading toward a small hallway. Chloe didn't even notice that she'd left.

Couch. Loveseat. Armchair. Each piece of tan furniture looked practically new. Unloved, Chloe thought. It was apparent that Frankie didn't spend much time relaxing at home. There was a television in the corner, a good size for the room without being showy. Chloe found herself wondering when the last time was it had been turned on.

Through the living room, Chloe spotted a small kitchen off to the right. Her eyes lit up with excitement. Living rooms could be left neglected but the kitchen had to be used, right?

Wrong.

White tile floor. Oak cabinets. Good quality oven and stove that looked nearly new.

Was this a stage house?

The refrigerator was a beacon of hope. Chloe had every intention of rummaging through it in order to judge it's contents, regardless of how rude and forward that was.

Something stopped her.

A photograph, haphazardly taped to the front of the fridge. AKA, the only personality that she had seen in the apartment thus far. She rushed to it.

Chloe gasped.

The photo was of herself and Frankie from almost two months ago, when they had gone to the club with Gail and Andy and retreated to Chloe's apartment for the night. Frankie was shown sitting on the couch, Chloe on the floor at her feet. They were leaning in to each other, staring into each other's eyes with beaming smiles. It looked like love.

Chloe had never seen the picture before, didn't even know it existed until that moment. She felt Frankie's presence enter the kitchen silently but she couldn't pull her teary, emotion-filled eyes away from the picture in front of her- and how much it meant to her that it was hanging up in Frankie's kitchen.

"Where did you get this?" Chloe asked, her voice coming out soft and crackling with awe.

"Hmm…" Frankie mused, smile audible, placing her hands gently on Chloe's hips and resting her chin on her shoulder. "Peck took it that night after the club. She was planning to give it to you but the night I got sloppy drunk she gave it to me instead," she admitted, holding on to Chloe and wishing that she could read her thoughts. "She said that I needed it more right then and that one day you and I could share it," she chuckled, remembering Gail's attempt at sweetness.

"It's beautiful…" Chloe said, leaning her head into Frankie without pulling her gaze from the photo.

"You're beautiful," Frankie grinned, nuzzling Chloe's ear with her nose.

"It's the only thing up in your apartment," Chloe noted, turning enough to look Frankie fully in the eyes.

"It's the only thing that mattered."

Chloe was known for being an emotional, passionate person. She felt fully and without regret and this moment was no exception. The difference was the array of things that she was feeling simultaneously, swirling together and surging into an overwhelming electricity.

Their lips met so hard that Frankie was propelled stumbling backwards, her back pressed against the door frame and Chloe's body pressed against her. Chloe's hands tangled into Frankie's strawberry blond hair, clenching into fists and pulling the woman further into her. Once Frankie regained her composure, she tightened her grip on Chloe's hips and pulled them together, holding her there as they kissed slowly and deliberately.

"I love it," Chloe rasped out, fingertips sliding under the collar of Frankie's dress shirt, seeking out her warm skin.

"I gathered," Frankie grinned back, mid-kiss.

"Take your shirt off," Chloe demanded, all playfulness gone and squelched by the overpowering passion she felt.

Frankie didn't have to be told twice. She did, however, take too long to come out of her arousal-laden stupor at Chloe's words, so Chloe began working the buttons herself. She roughly untucked the shirt from Frankie's dress pants, having no regard for the garments. Frankie couldn't bring herself to care, too busy yanking Chloe's tee shirt over her head and dropping it at their feet.

"Too bad you didn't see the picture a month ago," Frankie joked, watching as Chloe finished unbuttoning her shirt and stared at her hungrily.

"Frankie?" Chloe asked, almost sweetly, as she backed the woman into the living room and in the direction of the couch.

"Hmm?" she asked, being pushed onto the cushion and pulling Chloe down to straddle her hips.

"Stop talking."

It was a demand. It was raw and harsh and not at all what the detective would have imagined coming from the girl. Frankie struggled with the flash of arousal in her gut at the sound. She was wide-eyed, staring as Chloe ran her hands down her sides, across her ribs. Speechless.

Frankie gazed into big, brown eyes as she ran her hands from Chloe's shoulder blades down to her hips, sliding them to meet her own anything but subtly. She watched as Chloe's eyes fluttered shut, mouth opening with a breath as she took in the sensation. Chloe stopped the movement of her hands entirely, dipping her head forward and biting her lip, trying to contain the overwhelming desire rushing through her body.

Leaning up to Chloe's ear, Frankie nudged it with her nose before dragging her lip across the shell.

"Chloe?" she whispered, directly disobeying her command to shut up.

Chloe could not respond. The feeling of Frankie's hands running up and down her thighs, pulling their hips together with each sweep, had her mind fogged.

"Do you realise how sexy you are?" Frankie asked quietly, moving her mouth to Chloe's throat, lips ghosting over her pulse point before settling on her bullet scar.

She kissed the sensitive scar tissue gently, brushing her lips over it tentatively before pulling Chloe into her body again, running her hands around the waistband of her jeans and allowing her fingertips to dip just under it. Chloe's breath was already ragged, clinging to Frankie roughly as her hips began to grind against the woman independently.

Frankie pulled away just far enough to be able to look at Chloe's face, lips parted, eyes slammed shut. She already appeared to be teetering on the edge and they still had most of their clothes on. It was the most beautiful thing that she had ever seen. She caught a glimpse of Chloe's scar, slightly pink from her mouth and melding into the blush that was covering Chloe's skin. She leaned in again, kissing the spot before dragging her teeth over it.

Chloe cried out loudly, grasping Frankie's thigh with one hand, her shoulder with the other, hips moving uncontrollably as the wave of pleasure hit her suddenly, surprising and unprecedented. She buried her face into Frankie's neck as she clung to the woman, shocked and slightly embarrassed by her body's surrender. Frankie held her close, smoothing down her hair and rubbing her back as she attempted to calm down.

"Fuck…." Chloe breathed out heavily, still hiding against the skin of Frankie's throat.

"We didn't even get to," Frankie drawled back with a smirk, causing Chloe to sit up quickly and look into her eyes, embarrassed but also amused.

"Ah-" Chloe stuttered out, wishing to argue or come up with any sort of retort and failing, still too engulfed in the passion she was feeling a moment ago. "You-I mean, it's…."

"Hey…" Frankie interrupted, brushing the hair out of Chloe's eyes and running her thumb along Chloe's jawline. "I'm just kidding, Muppet. I wasn't trying to embarrass you," she promised, speaking so softly and genuinely that Chloe forgot her humiliation.

"I- I never…" Chloe furrowed her brow, trying to find the words. She slid off of Frankie's lap and up against her side as Frankie held her close. "That was fucking crazy."

Not her most eloquent moment, but it would suffice.

Frankie chuckled, kissing the top of Chloe's head.

"Imagine what it'll be like when I actually get to touch you," she whispered in Chloe's ear, enjoying the full-body shudder that it evoked.

"I can't," Chloe said honestly. "What if we never even get that far? What if I keep having orgasms thirty hot seconds after we start making out and we never get to actually do it? Then you won't even want to kiss me anymore, and we _definitely_ won't ever be able to kiss in public. It's like I'm a twelve year old boy!"

Chloe was back.


End file.
